


One Step At A Time

by Ultra



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, F/M, Family, Family Dynamics, Fear of Flying, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Getting Back Together, Happy, Happy Ending, Jealousy, Kissing, Long-Distance Relationship, Love, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Multiple Pairings, Plans For The Future, Pregnancy Scares, Rare Pairings, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Season/Series 04, Sex, Starting Over, Unplanned Pregnancy, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2020-09-23 23:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 39,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20348464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: AU Season 4. If Wade and Zoe are going to start over, it's pretty much their last chance to get it right, so it's probably best if they take things slow this time. Meanwhile, Annabeth is hiding something and George is about to have a revelation, which may all have a knock-on effect for both Lemon and Lavon.





	1. Chapter 1

Zoe woke up with a headache after a dream that had turned into a nightmare she didn’t want to remember. It was all stress-induced, she was sure of it, but there was little she could do to fix anything right now.

To think that when Wade hadn’t moved to Atlanta, she thought everything was going to be so easy, so perfect. Fat chance. Maybe it was just fate making sure she got her share of having to work hard at their relationship, that’s what Zoe figured at the time. After all, as much as Wade hurt her once upon time, she was well aware that she had brought him his share of pain too. He had done a lot of the running early on and then it was her turn to put in the effort, and Zoe absolutely did, to no avail it seemed.

It felt as if she tried everything, from making breakfast for Wade, to serenading him with a Johnny Cash number. Okay, so her grits were gross and Meatball had been staying over at the gatehouse the night she tried singing her way back into Wade’s heart, but at least she was trying and that ought to count for something.

Zoe really thought she was onto something the night she went over to Wade’s place to seduce him. The romantic part of their relationship had started with sex before, it could again, or so she had thought. Unfortunately, Wade did not feel the same. He was willing to sleep with her, and that part was as good as ever, even he admitted as much, but after the deed was done, he wanted nothing more.

The worst part was, Zoe couldn’t really blame him. He had only repeated words back to her that she had used in the beginning. She had made what they had all about sex for way too long, she could hardly say Wade was wrong to use the same tactics later. Of course, the difference this time was that she loved him, so very, very much.

It wasn’t that he didn’t feel it too. When she finally got him to talk to her about it, Wade admitted he loved her still and had never stopped, but he couldn’t trust her. That had hurt more than a little. In fact, Zoe felt as if her heart was breaking, but there was just nothing she could do to make it better. She couldn’t force Wade to trust her and he wouldn’t give her the chance to prove herself.

Eight weeks later and they had barely talked at all. When they did, it was just so horribly awkward, and then, last night, Earl and Mae had tried to help. Zoe had called it a reverse-Parent Trap, she didn’t know how else to put it. The only downside was that it hadn’t actually worked out as well for them as Lindsay Lohan’s parents in the cute family movie. Zoe so wanted another chance with Wade but he said no, again and again.

Just thinking about it made the tears well in her eyes for the hundredth time and Zoe hated that she was being so weak. She wanted to be stronger, she wanted to keep on fighting, but it seemed so pointless. Wade just couldn’t get past his fear of getting hurt again. All Zoe was doing by forcing the issue was hurting herself.

Then there was one other thing to consider, the potential result of the one night of passion Zoe and Wade had shared eight weeks before. It was the source of the nightmare she just woke up from and she hoped when she got to the practice this morning the results would have arrived, telling her she was free and clear. The very last thing this hopeless situation needed was a baby in the mix!

* * *

“Did you hear me? Wade?” Wanda called again, much louder, causing him to suddenly startle out of his thoughtful daze. “What is the matter with you today?”

“Nothin’.” Wade shook his head. “I was just... I’m fine,” he told her, forcing a smile. “What can I get for the momma-to-be, huh?”

“Just a ginger ale, thank you,” Wanda told her, hands resting on her rounded belly.

He wondered how she was balancing on a bar stool so well in her condition but it almost seemed rude to ask, so he didn’t. Wade just poured Wanda her drink and placed it in front of her.

“On the house,” he told her the moment she reached for her cash. “Since I’m guessin’ it’s medicinal anyway?”

“Pregnancy is just a laugh a minute with all its symptoms and side effects.” Wanda rolled her eyes. “Still, I’m doing okay, nothing to worry on, except for you, of course,” she said, staring at him and frowning then. “Are you working too hard?” she checked. “Because you hardly look like you slept at all last night.”

“That’ll be because I hardly did,” Wade sighed, running a hand over his face. “But it’s not work, it’s... other stuff,” he said vaguely.

“Like Zoe Hart.” Wanda smiled, sipping at her drink. “Oh, come on now, Wade. It’s not like everybody doesn’t know you two are still dancin’ around each other. How long are you gonna keep pretendin’ you don’t want her back?”

“I’m not pretending!” he told her, eyes wide with surprise at her words. “I don’t want her back. I don’t!” he insisted when Wanda made a face.

“What you don’t want is the heartache that taking a chance on her might bring,” she said knowingly. “But Wade, love is as much about risking everything as it is living happily ever after. You don’t think it’s been scary for me, marrying Tom, having this baby? There are a hundred things that could go wrong but if I sat and thought about them all, I wouldn’t be here like this, happily married, soon to be a mom,” she said, grinning wide.

“It’s different for you and Tom.” Wade sighed and shook his head. “You got lucky, everything has just worked for you two. Me and Zoe, we tried - God knows, we tried - more’n once. It just always ends bad.”

“Well, maybe those were your practice runs. You know like when you try to cook a new recipe, it doesn’t always turn out right on the first try, but you persevere and one day you turn around and you made a perfect stew or pie or whatever it is you were trying for,” Wanda explained easily. “These things just take work, Wade. Practice and time and planning, but most of all work.”

Wade nodded that he understood what she was saying but then had to move away down the bar to serve other patrons. That didn’t mean he wasn’t still thinking about all that Wanda had said, alongside some home truths he already had from Earl and Lemon in the last twenty-four hours. He sure did have a lot to consider where Zoe Hart was concerned, but then, he always had.

* * *

When Zoe walked back into the practice after lunch, Annabeth looked so startled she almost tossed her cell phone right on the floor behind the reception desk.

“You doing okay, AB?” she checked, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Yes, I am doing very okay.” Annabeth giggled. “Um, I was just... texting, you know, with my parents, who I spent this past weekend with.”

“Okay.” Zoe nodded, deciding she wasn’t in a place to be getting into somebody else’s strange behaviour right now. “Um, did those test results come through?”

“Yes, right here,” AB agreed, pushing the folder towards Zoe. “Those Lemon’s tests?”

“That’s right.” Zoe nodded firmly. “All about Lemon, every test, all for Lemon,” she insisted, opening the folder fast as she hurried towards her office.

A huge sigh of relief escaped her as she got inside, her back hitting the door. All Lemon’s test results were fine, she most likely just had a virus, but Zoe’s great relief came from the one test result in the list that had nothing to do with Miss Breeland.

The pregnancy test was Zoe’s own, slipped in with the others so the nosey Bluebellians would never know that she suspected she might be with child. Apparently, she was wrong anyway. All her symptoms were just stress-induced, they had to be because the test was negative. Zoe Hart was definitely not pregnant.

* * *

Wade wasn’t sure why he was quite so nervous as he stepped up onto the porch of the carriage house. It was only twenty-four hours ago that Zoe had said this was just exactly what she wanted, for him to come on up to her door and ask her to dinner, letting her know that he wanted to give their relationship one more try. Still, there was a part of him that wondered if he might be too late, if now when he finally asked her, Zoe would say no, because he just waited that little bit too long.

“Be a man, Kinsella,” he told himself in a low voice before raising his hand to knock at last.

Zoe came to the door within a minute, looking as beautiful as she ever had, and Wade’s heart skipped a beat when she smiled.

“Wade, what are you doing here?”

Taking a deep breath, he let his mind go back over all the things he knew he needed to say before she got a chance to cut in, then he went for it.

“Okay, so, last night you said that all you wanted was for me to come on over here and ask you to dinner, tell you that I want to give us another shot. Now, at the time, I just couldn’t imagine that happenin’. I mean, all that stuff I said to you a couple of months back, about not bein’ able to trust you... Zoe, I didn’t really mean that. I was just... well, scared and pushing you away, you know? And yeah, maybe I’m not 100% sure that you wouldn’t hurt me if we restarted things, but I do know that I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. I love you, Zoe Hart, and I come to realise that it’s worth the risk. So, I’m here and... and I’m asking you to dinner.”

When he was done and actually hoping for a response, Wade stared at Zoe and realised neither a yes or a no seemed to be forthcoming.

“After all that, please tell me this isn’t gonna end with you slammin’ a door in my face?” he said cautiously.

Zoe laughed even as tears spilled from her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said then, swiping at her cheeks. “Wade, I know I shouldn’t have pushed so hard. You and me, it’s been kind of a rollercoaster and assuming that you would want to jump back on just because I was ready, that wasn’t fair. I mean, you know I love you, so, so much, and if you really want to take me to dinner tonight, I would absolutely love to go,” she told him then, smiling widely.

“Well, alright then.” Wade grinned back at her. “Best you get yourself dressed, doc, ‘cause we got a reservation in, like, ten minutes.”

“What? You made a reservation?” she checked, wide-eyed with surprise.

“Wanda did.” Wade shrugged. “She seemed pretty sure you’d say yes, even if I was startin’ to wonder.”

“I’ll change fast,” Zoe promised, leaning in to plant a kiss on his cheek before she ran back inside to get ready.

* * *

“Wow, AB, you look a little green,” said Lemon with a frown.

“Ugh, I _feel_ green,” she admitted, putting a hand to her head. “Please, Lemon, keep your grandma away from me. I know this is her party and that ought to mean she has things the way she wants, but if you let her pour any more drinks into me, I am going to start spilling things that you do not want spilled.”

“Oh, fudge sticks up a fudge tree. You haven’t told her about Henry?” Lemon hissed.

“Not a word,” AB promised, trying to cross her heart but missing her target and kind of crossing her shoulder instead. “Nothing about Henry, nothing about... that other thing I’m not supposed to say either. I haven’t even mentioned my trip last weekend.”

Lemon frowned at that. “Why would Grandma Bettie even care about your weekend away to visit with your parents?”

AB’s eyes went comically wide and then she laughed too loudly.

“Can’t imagine why she would,” she said through fits of giggles, until her eyes landed on Brick across the room and she sobered fast. “Oh, I gotta get outta here,” she said definitely, watching him make ‘lips sealed’ gestures at her. “You tell your grandma I am no tell-tale!” she said definitely before staggering out through the door.

“She has got to learn to hold her liquor,” Lemon muttered to herself. “And she needs to get herself a man already.”

“Talking to yourself?” asked Henry as he appeared at her side with two drinks in his hands.

“Not now you’re here,” she told him with a smile, catching sight of her grandma watching from across the room and knowing he really had to sell the bit. “Let’s dance, baby.”

* * *

“Zoe Hart, to opposites,” said Wade, raising a wine glass to clink against her own.

“To opposites,” she toasted and they both drank.

Zoe could hardly believe this was happening. When she woke up this morning, she felt so bad and completely expected to have the worst day ever. Now, here she was, having dinner with Wade, the man she loved, who was looking at her like he couldn’t love her more. It was kind of perfect, even if there was the underlying tension of ‘What if we screw it up again?’ She was really, really trying to ignore that part.

“Look, Zoe,” said Wade then. “I just wanted to say that I know we are gonna work this time,” he assured her. “And I know that because I have crafted a plan.”

“Well, plans are good,” she agreed, not entirely surely where this was going but intrigued nonetheless.

“Yeah, because I was thinkin’, the last time we tried to do this, we kinda started things off backwards, you know, with the sex,” he reminded her, as if she could forget. “And I’m not knocking the sex. The sex was real good.”

“No arguments from over here,” Zoe agreed, unsure how after everything that had passed between them she could possibly be blushing right now, and yet she felt her cheeks burn anyway.

“But this time,” Wade continued, “I think maybe we should do things the way they’re supposed to be done. You know, I want to take you out on dates, to dinner, to the movies, even the crappy ones with the subtitles that you seem to like,” he told her, making her smile. “And after the movie, I want to take you home, I want to kiss you good night and wonder if I should call you again.”

“You’re going to wonder about that?” Zoe checked.

Wade smiled what she called his church social smile inside her own head. “That was a joke,” he told her, much to her relief. “My point is that I think it’s just gonna work this time, ‘cause we’re gonna take things slow. You know, build a solid foundation before... everything else happens.”

“Everything else,” Zoe echoed, nodding her head. “That makes sense.”

It was incredibly sweet actually that Wade had taken the time to think about this, to make a plan. He really had grown up so much since they first met and Zoe was happy to know that she had to. Wade talked before about becoming a better man and he certainly had, but Zoe was a better woman too. They deserved each other now, they knew how to be what each other needed, and they had the chance to start from the very beginning and get it right this time.

“So, it’s a good plan?” Wade check, apparently nervous that maybe he was wrong.

Zoe reached across to put her hand over his on the table. “It’s a great plan,” she promised, picking up her glass with her free hand. “To starting again and taking it slow,” she suggested.

“To starting again,” Wade agreed as they clinked glasses one more time, smiling at each other, “and taking it slow.”


	2. Chapter 2

When Lemon suggested running off to the Tuckers’ lake house, it seemed like a great idea. What with Lemon about to lose Fancie’s and Crickett all upset over Jaysene, they certainly could use some cheering up. AB herself wasn’t exactly in the need of help with finding something to smile about, but since she hadn’t found a way to confess that particular secret yet, it did make things more than a little awkward with her friends.

Of course, as the liquor started flowing and the friends started to recount past adventures, past loves, past plans, it didn’t take long for Lemon to decide they should go dig up the wishes they had long since buried outside the lake house. At the age of fifteen, AB came to realise that all she had really wanted was to live happily ever after with Jake Nass.

With her eyes fixed on the piece of paper that contained what seemed like such a childish fantasy now, AB failed to notice that Lemon and Crickett had continued talking and were very soon walking back up to the house without her.

“Annabeth?”

Her head snapped up at the sound of her name and she glanced over her shoulder to see Lemon staring at her.

“Are you comin’ inside?”

“Uh, I guess so.” AB nodded, hurrying to catch up to her friend.

“Somethin’ is going on with you,” Lemon said definitely, frowning at her and then at the paper still clutched in AB’s hands. “You’re not thinking of trying to get that Jake Nass back, are you? Annabeth, if that is your idea of-”

“I would never.” AB shook her head firmly, laughing even as tears sparkled in her eyes. “I would no sooner ask Jake to come back to me than he would ask to come back,” she told Lemon without pause.

She wondered why her friend’s face fell at the sound of those words, until she asked another question that made it clear.

“So, this is about Lavon? You still have those feelings for him, I guess.”

AB swallowed hard and then shook her head one more time.

“No, I don’t. I thought that I did, for a long time, but... but that was until I met someone else,” she said, smiling more than she meant to. “Actually, it was more like re-meeting someone else.”

“Annabeth, you have a boyfriend!” Lemon gasped.

“What is this now?” asked Crickett, clearly having doubled-back when she realised the other two hadn’t followed her. “You have a boyfriend?” she checked with AB.

“Well, I don’t know about that.” AB chuckled, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks from more than the alcohol she had consumed. “I have sort of been seein’ someone, kinda.”

“Details, AB, details!” Lemon insisted.

“Yeah, how did y’all meet? How long has it been going on? Oh, is it even a guy?” asked Cricket in rapid-fire.

AB felt like her head was spinning. “Um, we met in Bluebell, and re-met in Bluebell too. It started a couple of months ago, and yes, he is definitely a guy. Much as I love you, Crickett, I can’t make myself a lesbian just so you have a buddy in that,” she explained.

“And now the $64,000 question,” said Lemon, her hand on AB’s arm getting her full attention back in a second. “What is his name?”

Annabeth took a deep breath as she glanced between Crickett and Lemon, and then she finally told them the whole truth.

* * *

Zoe had changed her clothes six times, her hair three times, and reapplied her makeup twice. It was so stupid. She had known Wade for three years now. They had been friends, casual bed buddies, boyfriend and girlfriend, something horribly akin to enemies, and just about everything else in between. They had seen the best and the worst of each other and loved each other still, so it was highly unlikely that Wade was going to care too much what clothes Zoe was wearing or which shade of lipstick she put on. All he wanted was to take her out on a real date as they rebooted their relationship one last time.

“That is the part that’s scary,” Zoe realised aloud as she faced herself in the mirror again. “Last chance to get it right!”

Starting over seemed like it should be a good thing and yet going from the beginning again like this held a strange kind of pressure too. Before Zoe could get caught up in worrying about it, she heard knocking and a smile broke out across her face. Taking a deep breath, she hurried through to the front door and pulled it open to find Wade standing on her porch.

“You actually knocked and waited.”

“I wasn’t supposed to?” he said, looking as nervous as she had been feeling just moments before and Zoe found it actually helped. 

So many times before she had yelled at Wade for just strolling into her home unannounced. Now they were doing things properly, it seemed he thought he needed to knock on her door and was afraid to be wrong. Honestly, the moment she asked him about it she wondered if she should’ve, if he would take offence at her being so amazed that he could be gentlemanly. They really were both as bad as each other!

“Knocking is good,” she said fast, realising she had probably been quiet too long. “I mean, if this was only our second date, which it is this time around, you would knock, right?”

“I guess so,” Wade agreed. “Not exactly done this whole real relationship, going slow thing before, doc.”

“Me either,” she said, shaking her head. “But hey, you knew that already.”

They both laughed at how silly the conversation had already become. They were caught in a strange kind of limbo somehow. They were starting from the beginning, it was supposed to be a good thing, and yet, they already knew each other so very well, it was tough to pretend that they didn’t.

“So, uh, we doin’ this dinner and a movie thing or what?” said Wade after a while.

“Yes, we are doing that,” Zoe agreed, taking the arm he offered her and stepping carefully down the porch steps. “You know, I am glad we’re doing this, Wade.”

“Seeing a movie I’m not gonna understand?” he checked.

Zoe laughed. “No. Starting over, taking it slow, being like a real couple. I think it’s going to be good for us,” she said, gazing up at him happily.

“Yeah, me too,” he agreed, smiling back at her. “You look beautiful by the way.”

“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself, Wade Kinsella,” she said, wondering how she could be blushing after everything they had been through, but it was okay.

She meant what she said and she was sure this was going to be a great night.

* * *

When Lemon called George to ask him to come rescue her and the girls after they locked themselves out of the lake house, he had seen it as his big chance. Alone with the love of his life, away from Bluebell, away from Lavon, once the other guy agreed to take AB and Crickett home and leave Lemon behind. They were even at the Tuckers’ lake house, the very location where George and Lemon had first slept together. There could be no better place and time for them to reunite at last, and yet, it hadn’t happened.

When they got to talking - really, honestly talking - about how things used to be and all that had changed, realisation had dawned on George Tucker. He worried for a while that it was the drink making him think such crazy things, but no. While Lemon fell asleep with her head in his lap, George sat wide awake, sobering up as night turned into a new day.

As Lemon finally awoke, she pulled herself up to sit beside him and stared at him like he was a crazy person.

“George? Why aren’t you blinking?” she checked “What’s wrong with you?”

“Lemon,” he said, refocusing his eyes on her face. “I... I am not in love with you.”

“I’m not in love with you, either,” she said snippily, smacking him across the shoulder. “Rude!”

“No, no, I’m... Let me start over,” he said, shaking his head, taking a hold of Lemon and facing her head on as he explained. “Lemon, I was the one who leaked the story about Henry and his girlfriend to the Blawker, because I thought I was in love with you, but a few hours ago, I realised... I’m really not,” he told her honestly. “See, the night you left to go on the cruise, I went to the dock to tell you that, but being back here with you made me realise I’m not in love with you. I am in love with our past. A simpler time, when we still had our whole lives ahead of us. We were there for each other for over half our lives, and after we broke up, Lemon, I went on a miserable journey of self-discovery. I think the reason that I keep on getting drawn back to you is because, well, life made sense to me when we were together.”

He could see from the look in her eyes and the curve of her lips that she understood. Lemon knew exactly what he meant and was not offended or put off by what he was telling her. She probably felt much the same. It was time to move on.

“I’m tired of looking back,” he continued. “Now, I got to look forward. I got to push myself, get out of my comfort zone, you know? I need to follow my gut, take more chances, get a little wild and find my own way, just like I did when...”

“When, what?” Lemon asked when he trailed off, unsure if she was the best person to tell the rest of his idea to - probably not actually.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, shaking his head, “but I am going to start looking to my future, Lemon, and make it what I want it to be. It’s time to leave our love story in the past.”

“And our friendship in the present?” she asked with something akin to hope in her eyes and tone.

“Yeah, exactly,” George agreed with a wide smile. “Although, there is one other thing I should tell you, about that day at the dock. See, I wasn’t the only person there...”

* * *

“I swear to God, I couldn’t tell that one guy from the other one, so then I’m thinkin’, ‘How in the hell is he alive again!’” 

Zoe tried her best not to laugh at Wade as he talked about the movie they had seen, but it didn’t come easy. At least she didn’t have to feel bad about it, since he had laughed enough at himself on the same subject.

“Next time, I promise we will go see a movie that you like,” Zoe told him as he pulled the car up outside the carriage house. “Car chases, explosions, girls in bikinis walking out of the ocean in slow motion, whatever you want,” she said, rolling her eyes at the very idea.

“Sounds good to me, doc,” he told her happily, turning in his seat to better look at her. “Not that this wasn’t a good night anyhow. Doesn’t bother me much what the movie was about, just mattered I was there with you.”

Zoe smiled at that, it was tough not to, and when Wade leant in a little, she was happy to meet him halfway. At least, she meant to, but she had forgotten her seatbelt which held her firmly back in her seat.

“Ow,” she said, one hand going to her chest where the belt had pulled.

“Yeah, you might wanna unhook that,” Wade advised, hitting the button for her. “You are a hazard to yourself, doc.”

“Then it’s a good thing I have you to look out for me,” she said, her hand at his cheek before he could move away again. “I had a great time tonight, Wade,” she told him, leaning in more successfully this time as their lips met in a kiss. “Hmm, make that a _really_ great time,” she amended as they parted.

“Yeah, me too,” Wade agreed, eyes fixed on hers and showing the same hunger Zoe was feeling herself.

She had half a mind to ask if he was coming inside when suddenly he was out of the car before she could blink. The next think Zoe knew, the passenger door was open and Wade was holding out a hand to assist her out of the car. She took it gratefully, their fingers intertwining like the most natural thing in the world as he walked her to her door.

Up on the porch, he pulled her closer and planted another kiss on her lips. Just when Zoe was getting into it, Wade got away from her again. She was about to protest when her brain caught up with the rest of her and she realised what he was really doing - sticking to the plan. They were taking things slow, it was what they had agreed, and it was probably for the best. Of course, that didn’t mean that Zoe wasn’t suddenly wondering why it had ever seemed like such a good plan.

“So, I guess this is goodnight.”

“I guess so,” he agreed, shifting awkwardly in place. “So, goodnight, Zoe Hart.”

“Goodnight, Wade Kinsella,” she replied in kind. “You’ll call me?” she checked, smiling coquettishly until he grinned at her.

“You know I will,” he told her, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss before finally letting her go and leaving.

Zoe stood on the porch and watched him drive his car around to the other side of the pond. She hovered by the door until Wade got to his and waited to see if he looked back, feeling her heart soar when he did, and they each raised a hand in a wave. It really had been a wonderful night, it was just a shame that it had to end so soon.


	3. Chapter 3

“There’s somethin’ you ain’t tellin’ me, Z,” said Lavon, staring at her across the kitchen counter as they ate their breakfast together. “You can keep on saying you had a real nice date with Wade, and I believe you, I do. Still, that don’t mean there’s not some big ol’ ‘but’ that you’re keeping to yourself. What? Things just ain’t the same as they used to be?”

“Yes and no.” Zoe sighed dramatically, dropping her fork down on her plate and putting her head in her hands a moment. “Things are the same, mostly. I love Wade and he loves me. We have fun together and it’s good. All of it, it’s good.”

“_But?_” Lavon prompted when Zoe stopped talking and started at least half-faking a smile.

“I just... couldn’t so much sleep last night,” she explained, squirming on her stool. “And I know me and Wade agreed to take things slow, and I do believe it’s the right thing to do, but it’s weird. It’s so weird going out together but not being together... you know, at night,” she said as clearly as she could without actually saying it.

Lavon flinched when he finally realised what she meant. “No, no, no,” he intoned, turning his face away. “I do not need to know about y’all’s bedroom activities.”

“That’s my point, we’re not having any.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “Ugh, I know it’s for the best. We rushed in too fast the last time, did everything backwards. This way is better,” she said definitely, slamming her hands down on the counter with determination. “I am just going to have to be a grown up about this, otherwise it seems like there’s nothing more to my relationship with Wade than sex, and that is so untrue.”

“Well, that’s good to hear at least.” Lavon nodded, clearly having got his appetite for breakfast back as he returned to his pancakes.

“We’ll both be stronger for this in the long run,” Zoe continued, taking a long drink from her coffee. “Even if it kills us.”

“Wow, that’s... positive,” said Lavon, trying not to smile. “So, I guess since you’ve been sharin’ all your relationship news with me, maybe you wanna here about a little revelation I stumbled on last night?”

“Last night?” Zoe frowned. “Weren’t you and George doing that whole _Pride and Prejudice_ thing for Dash until pretty late?”

“We was supposed to be, but then we got a call. Seems Lemon, AB, and Crickett got themselves in some trouble up at the Tuckers’ lake house, so we kinda went to the rescue.”

“You and George both went to rescue three women, one of which you have both dated and another one that you’ve dated and is still in love with you,” Zoe recapped. “Wow, that had to be fun.”

Lavon chuckled. “Yeah, you’d think so, but actually, at least one positive thing came out of it. Now that I think about it, might be a little awkward for you, but it was positive for me,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

“Awkward for me?” said Zoe, shaking her head. “Okay, now you definitely lost me.”

“I, uh... I drove Crickett and AB home from the lake house,” Lavon started to explain, placing his fork down on his empty plate. “They were both a little... well, let’s be honest here, they was drunk.”

“Ooh, AB didn’t... I mean, she didn’t try and make a move, did she?”

“Nah, nothin’ like that. Total opposite, actually,” Lavon explained. “Apparently, she was happy to tell me that she is well and truly over what we had, that she would always care about me and everythin’, which is sweet, but she finally moved on, got herself a new man.”

“Wow,” Zoe said, clearly surprised. “Huh, I guess that’s why she’s been acting a little weird lately,” she said, considering it a moment. “But why wouldn’t she tell me about this? I mean, we’ve been pretty close lately. I can’t believe she would keep something so important from me.”

“Ah, well, there might be a reason for that,” Lavon told her, making a face. “See, this guy that AB has been seein’, apparently, it all started at your uncle Brando’s wedding.”

“Really?” Zoe frowned. “I didn’t think she got a chance to meet a guy. I mean, most of the time she was with... No!” she suddenly gasped as realisation dawned. “Joel? AB is dating Joel?”

“So she said.” Lavon nodded his agreement. “But I mean, you’re cool with that, right? You got Wade, and you and Joel are friends and all.”

“Oh, we absolutely are. I’m fine, honestly, I’m just surprised. Wow. AB and Joel,” she said, suddenly smiling as she thought on it some more. “You know, that actually makes a weird kind of sense. Yeah, I’m actually really happy for them.”

* * *

“Well, I am more’n happy for you, son,” Earl told Wade with a smile on his face to prove what he said. “You and the good doctor make a real fine pair, far as I can tell. ‘Bout time you figured things out.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Wade smiled right back at his father. “We had a good enough time on our first two dates, so it’s all lookin’ good, ‘cept for...”

“’Cept for, what?” asked Earl, frowning now as he stared at his son. “Come on, boy, spit it out. You still love the girl, don’t you?”

“’Course I love her.” Wade rolled his eyes. “Like I could stop, and before you ask, it ain’t that I don’t believe she loves me either. I know Zoe well enough by now to know she means what she says. It’s just... well, we made this deal to do things right this time. You know, last chance saloon, gotta make it work or else. So, we’re taking things slow.”

“Slow?” Earl echoed, looking baffled.

“You need me to spell it out to you, Dad?” asked Wade, almost as amused as he was frustrated right now. “_Slow_, as in we go on a date, I walk Zoe to her door, kiss her goodnight, and go on home.”

Earl still looked confused for a few beats and Wade started to wonder how they ever had a conversation at all when his dad was constantly drunk. Sometimes he looked even more baffled in his sober state than he ever had before.

“You talkin’ about sex?” he said eventually. “’Cause that ain’t all a relationship should be. Now, I know things are different these days to when me and your momma were young, but we got along just fine, waitin’ until we was wed.”

“And I respect that,” Wade assured him. “Difference is, Dad, you can’t miss what you never had. It’s a whole other thing when you had somethin’ and now you don’t, if you know what I mean.”

“All I know is, if you love her, you’ll wait,” Earl said firmly. “Might be the makin’ of the both of you to bide your time this go around.”

“Which is why we said we would,” Wade agreed. “Just wish it was easier than this is all.”

“Nothin’ worth havin’ was ever won easy, son,” said Earl with a chuckle, slapping him on the back.

“Don’t I know it?”

* * *

It wasn’t how either of them really expected it to happen. Running into each other at the Dixie Stop, it was so normal and banal, and yet it was how Lemon and Lavon finally came face to face, each one knowing they were finally free and clear to admit what they had both been feeling too long.

“Lemon, always a pleasure,” said Lavon with a nervous smile.

“Mr Mayor,” she replied, nodding her head once. “Uh, I was actually going to come by the plantation at some point. This is quite the fortunate coincidence,” she said, smiling even as her voice shook.

“Well, uh, maybe when you got your provisions together, I could drive you home and then we could talk some,” Lavon suggested, mindful of how many people were around, watching, listening. “If you had something you wanted to talk about that is.”

“I think I could probably think of one or two things,” Lemon agreed. “If you could?”

“Oh, I could.” Lavon nodded fast. “I absolutely could.”

“Okay, then.” Lemon grinned. “I’ll just...” she said, gesturing with the wire basket on her arm.

“Meet you out front?” said Lavon hopefully.

“Ten minutes,” she agreed.

“Can’t wait,” he told her, meaning it more than he ever meant anything.

* * *

“Well, hey there, doc,” Wade greeted Zoe as she came into the Rammer Jammer after work. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” she agreed, hopping up onto a stool, “and you would be even more attractive right now if you had a bottle of wine in your hand,” she told him dramatically.

Wade grinned at her joke and reached for the bottle and a glass to fill for her.

“Bad day?” he checked, passing her the drink.

“_Long_ day,” she corrected. “Like the kind that is so, so busy and just won’t end. I swear, I have administered medical attention to at least half the population of Bluebell. How does everybody get sick or injured all on the same day?”

“Pure talent?” Wade joked, eyes widening as Zoe sunk almost the entire glass of wine in one hit. “Wow, that must’ve been a real doozy of a day.”

“It didn’t help that I was so tired before I even started,” Zoe admitted, pushing her glass across the bar to be refilled already.

“I keep you out too late last night?” Wade checked, glancing at her as he poured.

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” Zoe promised, shifting awkwardly on her stool. “I just had some trouble falling asleep. All the fun and excitement, I guess,” she said, forcing a smile.

“Yeah, I get that,” said Wade, nodding his agreement.

Their eyes met for a moment and both considered just confessing the truth. It wasn’t exactly a crime to admit that they wanted each other, that they missed sharing the night together, and yet, it seemed wrong to say it, to break the pact they made just a week or so before.

“Uh, wine’s on me, doc,” said Wade eventually.

“Thanks, that’s... sweet,” Zoe replied, shaking her head. “Um, but you know you don’t have to pay all the time. I mean, you bought dinner and paid for the movie last night and last week too.”

“Far as I know, that’s what a gentleman does,” said Wade, shrugging his shoulders.

“Wade, it’s the twenty first century, even in Alabama,” Zoe reminded him. “I love that you want to be so generous, but how about for our next date, I pick up the tab? You’re not going to get all weird on me if I want to take you out, are you?”

“Now that all depends on where you wanna take me, doc,” he told her, leaning on the bar so their faces were level.

Something about the look in his eyes and the way he said ‘take me’ made her shiver in the best way, though Zoe tried her best to ignore it.

“Um, monster trucks? Action movie?” she suggested, having to clear her throat twice before she could go on. “Anything you want.”

She didn’t mean for the ‘want’ to come out that way either, but Zoe had to admit it kind of sounded sexier than it was supposed to. She was pretty sure she got away with it, Wade didn’t seem to notice, because surely if he had, he would’ve said something. He usually did.

“Sure, yeah, I’ll take a look into what’s going on and get back to you on that,” he told her, nodding his head.

“Okay, good,” Zoe agreed, sipping at her second glass of wine and watching Wade walk away to serve other patrons of the bar. “Just keep smiling,” she muttered to herself.

Apparently, doing the things the right way around and taking things slow was going to be much tougher than she realised, but she was not going to break. She just couldn’t.


	4. Chapter 4

“Seven weeks, AB. Count them, seven!” said Zoe, just this side of hysterical as she waved her hands in her friend’s face, seven digits displaying the number she was so very stuck on right now.

“Well, it’s good to know your numeracy isn’t failing you in the face of a relationship crisis,” said Annabeth cheerfully, checking that nobody was outside of the exam room listening in, then pushing the door closed just to be on the safe side.

“That’s just it,” Zoe told her dramatically. “There is no relationship crisis. Everything is going so well with me and Wade. The dates are fun, we talk, we laugh, it’s all good, except for the missing piece.”

“No sex.” AB sighed. “Yeah, that is... not normal.”

“Isn’t it though? I mean, I’ve never really had a serious relationship like this. My boyfriend in college, we just kind of got it together one day at a study session. It was practically friends with benefits, and then me and Wade, that was all backwards and so the wrong way to do things, which is why we’re doing it right this time, but what is right? What is normal? Is seven weeks of dating the time when people... go there?” she said pointedly.

“Gotta love a doctor who’s afraid to talk about sex.”

“I’m not afraid! I talk about sex with patients all the time but... but it’s different when it’s me and my boyfriend. You’re a woman of the world, AB, what is normal?”

“Okay, I’m going to pretend you did not just apply a nicety for a loose woman to me on account of how stressed out you are,” said Annabeth with a look. “But honestly, Zoe, I don’t know what it is you want me to say. I’m pretty sure there is no normal, because every person is different.”

“Okay, yes, that is true,” Zoe considered, pacing yet. “But let’s take you for an example. You’ve been seeing Joel a while now, right?”

“_Seeing_ is a strange term to use for it.” AB rolled her eyes. “I mean, we got to talking at your uncle’s wedding almost four months ago now, but nothing got too serious at first. There’s only so close you can get on a phone line. It was more than a month in when he got me onto that whole Skype thing and then... I don’t know, seeing each other but not being able to get to each other, it got tougher to pretend we didn’t care.”

“That weekend that you said you were visiting your parents,” said Zoe, eyes suddenly wide with surprise. “You were with Joel.”

“Yes, I was very much with Joel,” she admitted, cheeks turning just a little pink. “And it is the weirdest thing talking to you about this.”

“Why? Because he’s my ex?” asked Zoe, waving away any concerns AB might be having on that score. “Oh, please. You dated Lavon after he was with Lemon... and before he was with her again, I guess,” she said, suddenly frowning. “Wait a second, you and Wade never...?”

“No!” AB denied it hotly. “Not that he is not a very attractive man,” she added fast, “but no, we were never that kind of close,” she promised. “’Course, I did kiss him one time,” she said then, grinning wide.

“Seriously?”

“Oh, will you relax, it was in seventh grade!” AB told her, smiling yet at both the memory and the amusing look of shock on her friend’s face. “I’m pretty sure it was George Tucker’s twelfth birthday party and somebody, most likely Lemon, had insisted we play Spin the Bottle. On my turn, that bottle landed straight on Wade Kinsella.”

“Huh. So, you kissed my boyfriend before I did, and I kissed your boyfriend before you did. Weird world,” Zoe considered, sitting down on the edge of the exam table with a thud. “And none of this is helping me with my actual problem.”

“Zoe, you do not have a problem,” AB insisted, hands on her hips. “If you wanna have sex with your boyfriend, then just go right ahead. I can’t believe that any man, least of all Wade Kinsella, is going to say no to that kind of offer,” she said with a look, rushing out the door the very next second when she suddenly realised the phone was ringing in reception.

Zoe watched her go and heaved another sigh. She knew AB was right. If she just initiated things with Wade, she couldn’t imagine he would turn her down, but still she wondered if it was the right thing to do. They were supposed to wait, it was what they agreed to do, and yet, they seemed to have left out one very important point from that whole waiting plan - how long?

* * *

“What do you mean, ‘How long?’,” Lavon asked, shaking his head. “Ain’t my place to tell another person when they’re meant to get busy with their girlfriend,” he said, flinching away from Wade who seemed determined to chase him around the house come what may.

“Come on, Lavon, for the first time in my life, I am out of my depth when it comes to sex,” Wade insisted. “I mean, I was all for doing this taking it slow thing with Zoe. I knew it was probably what she wanted and, crazy as it sounds, I wanted it that way too. We both had to know we were in this for the long haul and that there was a whole lot more to us and what we had than the physical stuff.”

“Which you proved by now, I’m guessin’,” said Lavon, directing Wade to grab the other end of the ping pong table they were stood by. “You gonna hang around here driving me crazy, at least make yourself useful. Help me move this thing.”

Wade nodded his agreement, grabbed the other end of the table and they lifted on three, shuffling towards the next room.

“When you and Lemon got back together, you didn’t waste no time, right?” asked Wade within moments, almost causing Lavon to drop his end of the table right on his own foot. “What? She was here for breakfast the next morning, so I figured...”

“You just keep your figurin’ to yourself,” Lavon advised, “and stop asking me about when you should have sex with Zoe. She’s my best friend, man. I look to her like a sister. Last thing I need to be thinkin’ about is you two doin’ the nasty.”

“I’m not asking you to think about that,” Wade reminded him. “And since we’re not doin’ anything anyhow, there’d be nothin’ to think about even if you wanted to.”

“Which I absolutely do not!” said Lavon firmly, pointing a finger at Wade. “You best leave this topic alone in my company, man, or you and me ain’t gonna get along so good.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I can talk to anybody else now, is it?” Wade grumbled. “You want me takin’ this to _your_ girlfriend? Or of course there’s George Tucker. Yeah, I’d just love to be discussin’ my lack of sex life with the guy Zoe used to moon over any chance she got.”

“Aw, come on now.” Lavon shook his head. “Zoe has been over George a good long time and he is over her too,” he said definitely, “but I guess I see your point on a lack of folks to talk to about your problems,” he admitted, sighing heavily. “Look, all I’m sayin’ is this, you wanna _be with_ Zoe,” he said pointedly, “put the idea to her. You know, try talkin’ to your woman about it instead o’ me, ‘cause _I_ sure as hell don’t wanna sleep with you,” he said, nodding once before turning and walking away.

Wade watched him go and shook his head. “Like it’s just that simple. Bet the great George Tucker never has these problems.”

* * *

“Thank you so much, George.”

“It is not a problem,” he promised Tansy with a winning smile, though on the inside, his heart was beating a mile a minute.

Ever since his revelation at the lake house six weeks ago, he had been thinking a lot about Tansy. He went back and forth on the idea of calling her, to see if she would be interested in seeing him again. From what he heard through the town gossips, it seemed as if maybe she was still seeing that tool Scooter McGreevey, but George knew he couldn’t be sure until he actually asked.

Eventually, he had decided to write Tansy a long letter, laying everything out to her, his feelings, what he wanted for the future, but in the end, he never sent it. It just seemed so foolish somehow. Then work had gotten busy, time had passed, and his nerve had started to go.

George began to convince himself it was probably best not to go poking at old wounds, and then, suddenly, Tansy walked into his office, just as beautiful and sweet as ever she had been, asking for help with her brothers.

Of all the vehicles they could’ve chosen, trust Rudy, Rocket, and Chicken to go mud-dogging in the judge’s car, but George had still managed to get them out of all criminal charges, even if they did still have to pay damages. The part that George was still a little vague on was how he had also managed to agree to manage their band that was due to perform in next week’s talent show, but hey, Tansy was involved. George didn’t even know why he was surprised anymore.

“I swear if they weren’t my brothers, I’d wash my hands of ‘em, but what can you do when you love folks?” said Tansy, shrugging her shoulders.

George opened his mouth to answer that remark and then closed it again fast. Tansy must have noticed because her eyes narrowed a little bit.

“What?”

“What?” George echoed back.

“Come on now, George Tucker, what is going on?” she asked then, shaking her head. “You’re acting real strange. Is it about my brothers? Is there something you’re not tellin’ me?” she checked, looking worried.

“No, no. No, nothing like that,” George promised, waving his hands in a ‘no way’ gesture as he rounded the desk to stand in front of her. “I guess I was just... Well, I’m just real happy to see you, Tans,” he admitted then, smiling widely. “Truth is, I’ve had a plan to call you or come see you or somethin’ for quite a while, and then here you are, in my office, just like that.”

Tansy smiled, but the expression looked cautious somehow. “You were wantin’ to see me? Why?”

“Well, I was thinkin’, about my life and how I want it to be. See, I was a little screwed up for a while there, and then, well, I had this revelation that I maybe still had some feelings... for Lemon.”

“Wow,” Tansy gasped. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, but I got over it,” George told her fast. “I know now that I was just tryin’ to go back to a safe place, you know, a simpler time, but my life is not with Lemon anymore. I got to thinkin’ about everything that had happened to me since that time, since Lemon and I went our separate ways, and I figured out that all of the best parts happened... well, when I was with you.”

George watched Tansy’s face fall as she heard those words and his heart constricted in his chest. The way her eyes went to the floor and she shifted awkwardly in place made him feel nauseous. This was not going to end well, he already knew, and yet it was too late to back out now.

“George Tucker, you really pick your moments,” she said, shaking her head.

“I’m guessin’ you’re not going to say yes if I ask you to dinner,” he said with a sigh.

“I can’t,” Tansy told him sadly. “I’m still with Scooter. You know, we moved back to Fillmore and... and I’m pretty sure he’s fixin’ to propose to me before too long. I wish things could’ve been different, George, I truly do, but you and me, it just didn’t work.”

George nodded that he understood, even though it hurt like crazy. He ought to have known she wouldn’t leave McGreevey on a whim like that, but he had hoped she might at least give it some consideration. Maybe it was unfair, fat-headed even, to think Tansy would just automatically pick him given the chance. George felt so stupid.

“I’m an idiot,” he said aloud, almost laughing at himself. “I’m so sorry, Tans. I really am,” he told her sincerely. “I just... I need you to know that I deeply regret how things went with us. I wish it had all been different too. I wish I’d’ve realised what a good thing I had when I still had a chance.”

He met her eyes and found them filling with tears, giving him just one more reason to feel guilty, and yet he meant every word he said. Before he got a chance to apologise anymore, Tansy leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Goodbye, George Tucker,” she said softly and then she was rushing past him and on out of the door without so much as a backward glance.


	5. Chapter 5

“You want to take me to a talent show?” Zoe asked, frowning a little at Wade.

When he asked her to go over to the Rammer Jammer for lunch because he had something he needed to talk to her about, Zoe had sort of assumed it was important and serious. Maybe he had even been having the same thoughts she had, the same concerns about their lack of sexual activity. Apparently, Wade just wanted to take her out on another date, to a talent show that everybody seemed to already know Shelby was going to win.

“I just thought it’d be a nice idea for a date is all,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “but if you don’t wanna go...”

“No, I’ll go. We should go,” Zoe insisted, shaking her head. “Why would I not want to go with you?”

“Can’t think of a reason, doc,” he told her with a grin, leaning over the bar to meet her kiss. “I’ll pick you up around seven?”

“Sounds good,” she agreed before heading back to work.

As she walked out, George Tucker came in and took up the abandoned bar stool.

“She looks happy,” he noted, glancing back at Zoe.

“She has a date with me tonight, what’s not to be happy about?” Wade winked. “You goin’ to this talent show, Tucker?”

“Uh, yeah. I kinda don’t have a choice,” he admitted awkwardly. “Somehow, I seem to be managing one of the acts. A singing trio which I think you may have heard of. The Truitt Brothers,” he said with a look.

Wade bust up laughing, so hard that he was practically doubled over and unable to get the top off George’s beer until he calmed down. “Now how in the hell did that happen?” he asked just as soon as he got his words back.

“One word - Tansy,” George admitted with a heaving sigh, nodding thanks for his beer and taking a long drink.

“You never did get over her, did ya?” said Wade, already sure he as right, long before George put his beer bottle back down on the bar.

“Not really,” he admitted. “Problem is, she is well and truly over me. So, that’s that, I guess. I wish it wasn’t, but...”

“Then go do somethin’ about it, Tucker,” his friend told him firmly. “Come on now, since when do guys like us give up on what we want? You know, the odds were well and truly stacked against me and Zoe from the get-go and we have been to hell and back gettin’ to where we’re at now, but we made it in the end.”

George sighed one more time. “Difference is, Wade, you both wanted to make it work.”

“Yeah, mostly at completely opposite times from each other,” said Wade, shaking his head. “If you recall, when I first liked Zoe, she was hung up on someone not a million miles away from me right now,” he said pointedly. “We finally got it together and I screwed up, royally, I hasten to add. By the time I got myself into a place to be good enough for the girl, she goes off to New York and finds herself another guy. By the time he’s gone, I’m dating Zoe’s cousin. Our timing was just about as awful as it could be, from start to finish, but we found a way, and if we can then you and Tansy could do the same. You think about that, Tucker,” he said, tapping the bar in front of his friend before turning to walk away and serve the rest of the Rammer Jammer patrons.

By himself now, nothing but beer for company, George thought over what Wade had said. The man had a point and maybe that shouldn’t come as such a surprise. George had been taking dating advice from his buddy for quite a while now, ever since the wedding that wasn’t, in fact. Of course, George never thought he would see the day when Wade gave advice about women that revolved around perseverance, commitment, and happily ever after endings. Seemed people really could change, and that meant maybe George stood a chance of convincing Tansy to change her mind about stupid Scooter McGreevey, and more over, about him too. All George knew for sure was that he would never know for certain until he really tried.

* * *

“That was some show,” said Zoe as she and Wade walked home from their date. “I mean, I guess I should’ve known it would go with a bang, that’s pretty much standard for a Bluebell town event, but wow. Shelby going into anaphylactic shock? From Cheese Flavy dust? That was really unexpected.”

“You did a hell of a job figuring all o’ that out, doc,” said Wade shaking his head. “I swear, Sheriff Bill was gonna start holding a full on, town-wide inquiry if you hadn’t put your finger on the problem so fast and fixed Shelby right up.”

“It was nothing,” Zoe insisted, waving away his compliments with her free hand, the other holding tightly onto Wade’s own. “Shelby was the impressive one. I mean, the second the swelling had gone down, she was right back on stage giving the winning performance, and then handing Lemon the cheque so she could fix up Fancie’s? So classy.”

“And there’s a thing you never thought you’d say about Shelby Sinclair.”

“So true.”

They both laughed just as they got within sight of the carriage house, which only served to bring a more serious tone to the mood of the evening. Zoe never had gotten around to talking to Wade about the whole taking it slow aspect of their renewed relationship. She meant to, she really, really did, but it felt so weird to actually talk about sex with Wade. The having of the sex was never a problem, but Zoe just wasn’t sure she had the words for a conversation about the lack of physical activity between them.

“I’m still reeling from The Truitt Brothers getting second prize too,” she said in what was becoming an uncomfortable silence. “Can you believe that?”

“I believe George Tucker is doing his level best to do just about everything he can so Tans’ll keep on smiling at him just like she was tonight,” Wade told her, smirking some as they faced each other, Zoe two steps up towards the porch of her house, him still on the ground yet, putting them at almost the same height for once. “Seems to me he’s still head over heels for her, even willin’ to spend quality time with those crazy brothers o’ hers if it makes her happy.”

“Wow. Isn’t Tansy still seeing that other lawyer?” asked Zoe, frowning a little.

“Pretty sure that she is,” Wade agreed, nodding his head, “but like I told Tucker, if he likes her all that much, he’s gotta go for it, tell her how he feels and hope she picks him. Doesn’t always work the first time but most people get there eventually, you know, if it’s meant to be.”

The way he said it made Zoe smile, clearly a reference to their own relationship. It was certainly true that they had their ups and downs, seemingly never in the same place at the same time with their feelings and all, but in the end, here they were, together, making it work.

Zoe leaned in to kiss Wade then, falling into the moment and wanting it to go on forever. Unfortunately, just like every time he dropped her off at her door, he pulled away too soon and looked set to walk away. Right before he had a chance to step back or turn away, her fingers caught the front of his shirt and gripped tightly.

“Wade,” she said softly, her face close to his again. “When we agreed to take things slow this time around,” she continued, meeting his eyes, “exactly how slow were you thinking?”

“Zoe, it’s not...” he began, but failed to get any further.

Zoe was quite happy to pick up where he left off. “It’s not that things aren’t going great, because they are, at least I think so,” she told him fast. “It’s just, well, it’s been a couple of months now, and so, I thought you could probably come inside, if you wanted,” she said, swallowing hard, “you know, for some tea?”

She smiled a little when she said it, hoping she made her meaning plain. After all, they did this dance before, he ought to know the steps. It hurt when he hesitated, even though Zoe was sure that all Wade was trying to do was stick to the plan. He proved it when he spoke up then.

“You know that I would love to come inside... for some tea. You have no idea how much I want that,” he told her, smiling in spite of himself, his hand coming up to cradle her cheek. “It’s just that... Zoe, we had a plan. We agreed we needed to do things right this time.”

“I know that we did.” Zoe nodded slightly, biting her lip as she considered how to put what she wanted to say. “I... I don’t want to screw this up, Wade, and I get that you’re apprehensive, because I am too. It scares me half to death that we’re going to mess up what we have all over again, but I’m not sure we can this time. Things have been going so well lately. I’m so sure about what we’re doing, about this whole relationship. We started from the right place, and we took things slow, and it’s working, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s working,” Wade agreed, nodding his head. “But you’re not wrong, Zoe. It bothers me more than a little that if we put a foot wrong in this thing, we’re both gonna get blown all to hell.”

Zoe was running out of words to say, sensible or otherwise. It was so tempting just to kiss him again, to prove to Wade with actions rather than words that she was so sure about this. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t cut it, not with them. They overdid the physical stuff the first time around, letting it take over, never really talking, never saying what ought to be said. She didn’t want that again. She never wanted Wade to think she only wanted him for one thing, when in fact, she wanted him for everything.

“Maybe I should just head on back to my place,” said Wade then, clearly taking her silence the wrong way.

“Sure, if you want to.”

“Zoe.” Wade sighed. “You know I don’t _want_ to. Damnit, woman, I love you. Love you so much it makes me crazy,” he told her, even though she ought to know it already. “And if I wanted you any more than I do, I’m pretty sure I’d explode or somethin’.”

“Then stay,” she urged him, “because I love you too, Wade Kinsella, more than I ever loved anyone else in my whole life,” she swore, hands on either side of his head by now, ensuring that he met her eyes and knew she meant every word sincerely. “And also, because I’m pretty sure it’d be way better for the both of us if we did any exploding we were going to do together.”

It was such a weird thing to say that they both laughed as they replayed it inside their heads. It broke some tension at least and that couldn’t be a bad thing, though the passion between them had gone nowhere at all, as proven by the way they kissed each other then.

Somewhere between the porch steps and the front door, Zoe’s feet came up off the floor, her legs around Wade’s waist as he carried her into the house, the two of them keeping up their kissing the whole way to her bed, where they finally laid down together and let things progress naturally between them. As they had expected, it really was pretty explosive.


	6. Chapter 6

Wade woke up with Zoe in his arms for the first time in too long, and damn, if it didn’t feel good. It was as if the world suddenly made sense again when he looked down and found her big brown eyes looking up him.

“Good morning,” she said softly.

“Mornin’, doc,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her smile and happy enough when she met him half way.

She sighed contentedly as they parted. “I think I can honestly say, without a doubt, that that was worth the wait.”

“No arguments from here,” Wade promised her, fingers running idly through her hair. “You have no idea how much I have missed you.”

He wondered if maybe he was wrong on that, considered maybe she felt exactly the same, when she moved up to kiss him again and ended up almost completely on top of him. Not that Wade was complaining about making up for lost time, not at all.

“Hmm, I’m not crazy, right?” asked Zoe between kisses as their hands started to roam. “I mean, it was good before, really good, but last night was...”

“Yeah, it really was,” he agreed, knowing exactly what she meant, even though she never said it. “All three rounds, in fact,” he said near her ear, flipping her onto her back and leaning over her.

She looked up at him expectantly and Wade knew what she was waiting on, but for just a minute all he could do was stare at her, take her in, let it all sink in that this was really his life.

“I love you, Dr Zoe Hart,” he told her, not for the first time, but as sincerely as he ever said anything. “I never really believed folks when they said it made all that much of a difference to... you know, all this, but maybe they had a point.”

Zoe looked visibly moved as she nodded her head. “Yeah, maybe they did,” she agreed softly, pulling him closer until their lips met in another perfect kiss. It came as a surprise to Wade when, within a few seconds, she was pushing him away again. “I just think we have to be careful, you know?” she said seriously. “That we don’t lose sight of everything else just because this part is so good. We have to remember that it’s the rest of what we are, how much we mean to each other, that makes this part as good as it is,” she explained as best she could. “I really don’t think I could go through losing you again.”

“Me either,” Wade agreed, moving to lay beside her again and pulling her around to face him. “We’re doin’ it right this time, sweetheart,” he swore, pushing her hair back behind her ear and letting his hand linger at her cheek. “I promise you, we’re gonna make it work this go around.”

“Yeah, we will.” Zoe smiled widely, shifted her body closer. “Of course, that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t be open to the idea of round four,” she said saucily.

Wade grinned back at her. “Doc, I thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

“Knock, knock?” Annabeth called from the doorway of the houseboat, glad to find that, even so early, George Tucker was both out of bed and full dressed. “I’m sorry to just barge in,” she apologised anyway. “I called from the shore but...”

“AB, please, come on in,” said George, gathering papers from the sofa and shoving them aside.

He also, rather unsuccessfully, tried to hide an empty bourbon bottle and what looked like some photographs under the couch cushions. AB was polite enough to pretend she didn’t notice.

“I hate to have to say this, and it’s my least favourite part of the whole landlord-tenant arrangement we have going,” she said awkwardly, “but I don’t seem to have gotten your rent this month?”

George frowned hard and then facepalmed harder.

“AB, I am so sorry. I’ve been kind of all over the place lately with work and... and the Truitt Brothers,” he admitted, laughing at how stupid he knew that sounded. “None of this is an excuse, I know. I will get you the money, today, I promise.”

“That’s just fine, no crazy panic or anything,” she assured him. “I was just checking, making sure nothing was wrong. I mean, well, is there something wrong, George?” she asked then, frowning as her eyes flitted to the place under the sofa where the bottle had gone to.

“Wrong?” he echoed, scratching the back of his head. “Why, why would anything be wrong?”

“Maybe it’s none of my business,” AB said then, shaking her head and turning to go.

George winced, knowing he had offended her, and also knowing that, actually, a female perspective on what was going on with him right now might not be the worst thing. Lord knows, he didn’t think Lemon or Zoe or any other woman he previously had those kinds of feelings for were a good fit for someone to talk to about it.

“Annabeth?” he called after her. “I, uh... I’m sorry,” he said one more time as she turned back to look at him from near the door. “What I said was true, about work and the Truitts and all, but none of that is the real problem right now. The truth is... Well, the truth is I have been struggling with some feelings I’ve been havin’, for someone who is actually seeing someone else...”

“Oh, my Lord!” AB gasped, hand flying to her chest. “Zoe Hart? _Again?_”

“No, no, not Zoe, and not Lemon either,” he assured her fast, but before he could give further explanation Annabeth jumped in again.

“Wow, I... George Tucker, you are a dear, sweet man,” she assured him, coming back down the steps to stand before him. “You are certainly not unattractive and I do understand that we have known each other a long time, and maybe, in some alternate world, we could’ve... I mean...”

Light dawned in George’s head as she stumbled over the next few words and he quickly shook his head.

“Oh, no. No, no, AB, I wasn’t... I didn’t mean you,” he promised her. “Not that you’re not... I mean, like you said, we’ve known each other a long time, and you’re a great person, beautiful and smart, but it’s not you.”

“Oh, thank God!” AB gasped. “Sorry, I didn’t-”

“It’s okay.” George chuckled at her expression. “I think we just firmly established that you and I are not meant to be a couple and that neither one of us should be offended that the other one is relieved to know it.”

Annabeth laughed herself then, letting out a long breath. “Well, that was quite the rollercoaster for a minute there.”

“Really was,” George agreed. “I actually was talkin’ about Tansy,” he admitted at last.

He watched then as AB’s eyes widened just a little before she smiled.

“You and Tansy Truitt,” she said, nodding her head. “You know, I always thought you two were just adorable together.”

“You did?” George checked, sitting down and offering AB to join him on the couch.

“Absolutely,” she said, taking the seat beside him. “I mean, after you and Lemon, I figured you could probably use a little wild fun and Tansy, well, bless her heart, it didn’t hurt for her to have someone a little more stable than her usual type,” she said carefully. “It’s too bad it didn’t work out, but what has you thinkin’ on it so much all of a sudden? Is it working with her brothers?”

“Yes and no.” George sighed, reaching under the cushions for the photographs he had been hiding, all candid shots of either Tansy or the two of them together from the last time they dated. “It was that night when me and Lavon came up to the lake house to rescue you girls. I got to talking to Lemon, and I realised she and I are never gonna happen, and that I don’t really want it to. The past is the past, I need to move forward, and yes, I know, Tansy is a part of my past too, in a way, but I realised I want her to be my future. She made me happy, AB. I mean, she really did,” he said, showing her one of the pictures in which he and Tansy were grinning like idiots with their arms around each other.

“Yeah, you do look real happy,” she admitted. “So, did you talk to her about maybe getting back together? Because I thought I heard she was with that Scooter McGreevey,” she said, nose wrinkling up just at the mere mention.

“She is.” George sighed. “I have tried to tell her he is no good. I thought maybe if she knew she had a choice, if she could believe that I’m ready this time, ready to commit to only her and make it work, than maybe... maybe she’d leave him for me. Pretty fat-headed, huh?”

“No.” AB shook her head, smiling at him. “I think it’s very sweet what you tried to do, but George Tucker, sweet words only get you so far with a woman, especially one that already has a man she likes well enough. Now, if you want Tansy to start changing her mind about old Scooter McGreevey and come on back to you, moping around here with your good friend Jack Daniels is not going to cut it.”

“I already tried talking to her.”

“Talking!” AB scoffed. “You ever hear the one about actions speaker louder than words?” she asked George, knowing damn well that he had, of course. “A woman wants to be swept off her feet, George Tucker. A grand gesture, that’s the only way to make Tansy see you’re serious about her.”

George frowned a moment. “How grand?”

AB laughed. “Pretty darn grand after what that poor girl’s been through with you before,” she insisted, “but only you know for sure what would win her over. Think about it, it’ll come to you,” she said, getting up to go then. “Now, I’m sorry, but I have a million and one things to do today, so I should be going.”

“Thank you, AB,” George called absently behind her. “Ah, you know, I heard about you and Joel Stephens,” he said, just before she reached the door. “That all good?”

“It’s very good.” AB smiled down at him. “Long distance is rough, don’t get me wrong. For a while, I wondered if there was even any point but when you know, you know, right?”

George smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah, I guess you do know.”

* * *

“All I’m sayin’ is, if you come by late for breakfast, then you’re gonna miss out on getting what you want.”

“And all I’m saying is, that buttermilk muffin is ordered specifically for me, so keep your hands off!”

Lavon and Wade both winced as their respective girlfriends continued to bawl at each other over the kitchen counter. With a nod of agreement, they slowly retreated to the mayor’s study and closed the door.

“What in the hell are we gonna do about them?” asked Wade, shuddering at the thought of every morning becoming such a spectacle.

“Beats me.” Lavon sighed. “They never have exactly gotten along and I figured somethin’ was brewin’ these past few weeks, but now... That out there is just nasty!”

Wade had to agree he was right. Any time Lavon had Lemon stay overnight, breakfast was all stony silences and barbed remarks, but up to now, nobody really came to blows. This morning, with Zoe and Wade so distracted by their activities over at the carriage house, they had been later than usual coming over for their food, and apparently, Lemon had decided she could just help herself to Zoe’s favourite muffin. Clearly, that was enough for all hell to break loose.

“All I can think is maybe when they done screamin’ and yellin’,” said Lavon, “I’ll talk to Lemon, you talk to Zoe, we both play the ‘please get along for my sake’ card and start praying hard for a miracle.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s just about all we can do.” Wade sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Makes you wonder sometimes if life’d be easier without womenfolk altogether, huh?”

Lavon gave him a look and Wade seemed to realise what he actually just said. They both shook their heads and spoke at the same time then.

“Nah."


	7. Chapter 7

“Lemon, could you please pass the orange juice?”

“Well, certainly, Zoe, and may I say that’s a real... interesting shirt you’re wearing this morning.”

“Thank you. I was just thinking the same thing about your... earrings.”

The two women smiled at each other over breakfast and anyone who didn’t know them might even believe they got along. The men in their lives sure knew better, as the look that passed between Wade and Lavon surely proved. Not that they were about to complain, even if it was a fake kind of peace between Zoe and Lemon. It was so much better than the two of them tearing into each other on a daily basis.

“Okay,” said Lavon then, gulping down the last of his coffee. “I got business to attend to in town. You want a ride Zoe? Do our piece to save the planet and all.”

“Sure.” Zoe nodded, hopping down from her stool. “I’ll see you later,” she told Wade, kissing his cheek. “Bye, Lemon!” she added cheerily.

“Bye-bye now!” Lemon grinned big as she waved, her hand dropping to the counter with a thud the moment Zoe was gone.

Wade just about choked himself from laughing so hard with food still in his mouth.

“You two are a real double-act, you know that?” he told Lemon, the moment he got his breath back. “To think you used to call me out for being immature, Miss Breeland,” he teased her.

“You can just shut your yap, Wade Kinsella,” she countered, smacking his hand when he reached to steal the last slice of toast. “I will have you know, I am one of the most mature women in Bluebell, ‘cept for when it comes to dealing with that charming girlfriend of yours,” she added with a sneer. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand what you see in her.”

“I could tell ya, but you wouldn’t wanna hear it.” Wade rolled his eyes. “You know, now that I think, you and Zoe have a whole lot in common.”

Lemon’s eyes went comically wide at that remark, but Wade never gave her a chance to cut in before he went on to explain himself.

“Now, think on it for a second. You both get along with all the same folks - me, Lavon, George Tucker, AB - plus you both know what you want outta life and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t have it. You stick up for yourselves, and for all the people you love, without a second’s hesitation. Hell, your daddy and hers were doctors who worked at the same practice. I know you got along with Harley well enough and Zoe looks to Brick like a father herself these days. Not to mention the fact that Lavon considers her his sister, and you and me... well, you know how you and me are these days,” he said with a smile. “So, you tell me, Lemon Breeland, with all o’ that bein’ so, why in the hell you and Zoe can’t just get along?”

It was one of those rare times in his life where Wade thought maybe he had actually stumped Lemon with facts even she could not refute. Of course, he ought to have known better.

“I have more than enough reasons to be on no more than the barest of civil terms with Dr Zoe Hart,” she said snootily. “You forget how things were when she first came to Bluebell? Because I remember plain enough. She caused a whole lot of trouble for me, Wade Kinsella.”

“Yeah, so you told everybody who would listen, Lemon, repeatedly,” Wade reminded her, “but you’re talkin’ about stuff that happened more’n three years ago now. ‘Sides, if you’re thinkin’ of you and good old George Tucker, you just think on what a favour Zoe did for you by turnin’ his head.”

“I beg your pardon?” she snapped behind him as he headed for the door to go. “Wade Kinsella, you just come right back here and explain yourself,” she insisted.

“Come on now, Lemon, you’re not stupid,” he said, turning back to look at her. “If Zoe hadn’t gotten old Golden Boy’s attention, he might just of gone ahead and married you a couple o’ years back. That means you and me wouldn’t ever of owned the Rammer Jammer together, you prob’ly wouldn’t have Fancie’s right now, and you sure as hell wouldn’t be with Lavon. So, if all you gotta blame Zoe for is bein’ attractive to your ex, you best start realisin’ you don’t owe her a whole lot of acid for her trouble, you owe her a thank you.”

With that he breezed on out of the back door, letting it clang shut in his wake.

Lemon stared after Wade with a look of shock that slowly faded into a frown as she realised maybe, regrettably, he actually had a point.

* * *

It had taken George a while to figure out what kind of big, sweeping gesture he should make to show Tansy exactly how he felt. Almost two weeks had passed since his chat with Annabeth on that very subject, but now he was sure of what he needed to do. All dressed up in his best suit with the most beautiful bunch of flowers in his hand, he headed over to her place, bound and determined that she would understand his feelings before this night was through.

“Okay, she’s still dating Scott but I’m just asking for a chance,” he reminded himself of the speech he had been practising as he walked up to her door. “What we had was a real good thing, we both should’ve tried harder, but most of it is on me. Things are real different now, I can give her everything she deserves. Okay,” he said again as he raised his fist to knock.

Before he managed it, the door swung open, and there she was. Tansy looked surprised to see him, shocked even, but George was feeling much the same as he took in the sight of her. She was dressed up in her best and looking just about as beautiful as he had ever seen her.

“George Tucker, what are you doin’ here?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I was... I just... Tans, you look incredible,” he told her, unable to find any other words in that moment.

It got a smile out of her at least, but she looked as awkward and embarrassed as she was grateful for the compliment.

“Thank you, but I still don’t understand why you’re here at my door, tonight of all nights,” she said with a pained expression. “I’m sorry, but your timing really is awful.”

“I am aware of that,” he told her fast, before she had a chance to chase him away or just shut the door in his face. “I know I have screwed up with you so many times and that makes me a real fool, Tansy, but I am determined about this. We really need to talk. I have so much I need to tell you, and if you’ll just give me a chance-”

“George, please, don’t do this,” she urged him, wringing her hands. “I can’t tonight, don’t you understand?”

“See, what I understand is that you’re remembering all those times that I messed up, and also, I understand that you’ve been seeing Scott McGreevey for a while now,” he said, the last part coming out through gritted teeth so he could keep the pleasant smile on his face. “But, Tans, it doesn’t have to be that way. He’s not the guy for you, I know that, and if you’re honest with yourself, I think you know it too.”

He pushed the bunch of flowers into her hands at that point, perhaps a little too forcefully since she almost got the full force of the blooms right in her face.

“I bought these for you and I booked us a table at Tokomoto’s. You remember the last time we went to that place?”

He hoped she did since it was the place he first told her he loved her. The look on her face betrayed the fact she absolutely knew what he was getting at, but maybe that she wished she didn’t, which couldn’t be a good sign.

“Of course I remember, George,” she said with a sigh, “and the flowers are beautiful, but like I keep tryin’ to tell you, I couldn’t go out with you tonight, even if I wanted to, which I’m sorry, but I don’t,” she insisted, pushing the flowers back into his arms. “I have a date already, with Scott, and... and I’m almost certain he’s going to propose tonight.”

“Propose?” George echoed, half-choking on the word. “As in marriage?” he added, stunned to see Tansy nodding in response. “Oh, come on, Tans, you’re not gonna say yes to that-”

“What else would I say, George?” she asked, before he had a chance to insult her man in any way. “He loves me, you understand that? And if he’s serious enough about me to ask me to marry him, then you bet your ass that I’m gonna marry him, and don’t you even think about tellin’ me I can’t.”

George opened his mouth to protest, to tell her he loved her too, more than anything, but the door was immediately and unceremoniously closed in his face. He knocked some more, yelled for Tansy to give him a chance but she held firm. Knowing all he was achieving was probably upsetting Tansy and definitely disturbing the peace, he trudged back to his truck, threw the flowers in the passenger seat and drove away.

He had no idea that behind her door Tansy was silently crying, wondering if she even just did the right thing. In the end, she decided to clean up her face and just go to dinner with Scott like she planned. After all, she meant what she said. If he wanted to marry her then she was going to say yes. They could be happy together, she was certain of it. Mostly certain. Pretty sure. Probably.

* * *

“Wade?” Zoe called as she came into the Rammer Jammer at lunch time.

She found him sat alone on the edge of the bar, scribbling furiously in a notebook she recognised from days gone by. It was the same one he had used for all his plans to have a bar of his own.

“Okay, what is going on?” she asked, first surveying the decidedly empty tables and bar area before bringing her gaze to land on Wade’s book. “Does this have something to do with the food truck in town?”

“Seems that way,” Wade told her, leaning over to plant a kiss on her lips. “But don’t worry on it, doc. I got a plan.”

“Are you trying to shut down the competition?” she asked with a grin. “Because I could probably help with that. I already had the Whippoorwill shut down this morning.”

“You shut down the Whippoorwill?”

“Just until the fumigators come in tomorrow to deal with the bed bugs.” Zoe waved away any concerns on that score. “So, what’s the real plan to deal with those Pritchett sisters and their delicious... but very, very bad, barbecue burritos?” she said, biting her lip.

Wade rolled his eyes, clearly guessing she had been sampling the competition. Of course, the fact he didn’t call her on it probably meant he had done the same.

“I figured Valentine’s Day is coming up next month and what with it bein’ a Saturday and all,” he said, dropping down onto his feet on Zoe’s side of the bar and showing her his notebook. “I’m thinkin’ how about a party?”

“Like a couple’s costume party or a masquerade ball or something?” asked Zoe, eyes scanning the pages.

“Maybe,” Wade considered. “You think that’d be better than just a regular party?”

“I don’t know.” Zoe shrugged. “Either way, I think a Valentine’s Day event is a great idea. I know I’d like to be taken to something like that,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

“Yeah, well, I can’t exactly be your escort when I’m running the whole thing, doc, but I’ll try if it’d please ya,” he promised, pulling her close in his arms.

“You know it would.” Zoe smiled right before they kissed.

It wasn’t exactly surprising to either of them when they found themselves getting carried away. It happened a lot lately, ever since they decided to start spending nights together again. Of course, with the Rammer Jammer being empty there was really nothing stopping them from going wherever the feeling took them.

“Hmm, as much fun as this is,” said Zoe, pulling away just a little, “the front door is open. Anybody could walk in.”

Wade lifted her effortlessly onto a stool and put up one finger to signal she should wait just a second. Going over to the door, he changed the sign to closed and locked up before returning to her.

“Not like we were gettin’ any customers anyway,” he said as he took a hold of her again.

Zoe meant to tell him that wasn’t exactly a romantic thing to say but then Wade was kissing her again and she kind of didn’t care at all. Besides, doing it at the Rammer Jammer was weirdly thrilling and she figured there would be plenty of time for real romance when the Valentine’s Day dance rolled around. She had to wonder if their own relationship had inspired Wade to come up with such a corny idea. Zoe decided it probably was and that was just about the last coherent thought she had before she and Wade sunk down to the floor together, lost in each other and not caring about anything else at all.


	8. Chapter 8

“That’s just... great,” said Annabeth, at the sound of Joel’s positive news, arms raised as if in a joyful celebration, forced smile on her lips. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Really?” At the other end of the Skype call, her boyfriend was now wearing an expression that proved he didn’t quite believe her. “Because your face doesn’t really match up with that. See, I’m a writer, I have a pretty good idea about emotions and everything. The frowny face,” he said, gesturing to his own face as he said it, “not usually a sign of happiness.”

AB huffed out a sigh. “Alright, Mr Smarty Pants,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him for good measure. “The truth is, I am happy for you, Joel, you know that I am, but I just... Well, with all your meetings and being so busy with your movie deal and then the next book and all, it just means it’s going to be even longer before I get to see you,” she admitted sadly. “This Skype thing is all well and good but it’s not exactly... well, it’s not the same,” she said with a look he couldn’t possibly misread.

“Oh,” said Joel, suddenly getting her point. “I know. It sucks for me too,” he assured her, removing his glass and rubbing his aching forehead, “but sweetie, we knew it was going to be tough when we started this thing.”

“I know.” AB sighed one more time. “I understood when you had to go to Europe and everything, but then you were back here, in the same country, and I thought... well, that you might be a little closer than LA, New York, all the places that aren’t where I am. I’m sorry, I’m probably just being selfish-”

“Annabeth,” he cut in before she had a chance to go on. “I don’t believe you would even know how to be selfish.”

“Oh, believe me, I would,” she said, smiling in spite of herself. “I had a great teacher. You remember Lemon, right?”

“Who could forget?” Joel chuckled.

“I am sorry, honey,” AB said then, reaching out a hand to the screen as if to touch his face. “It’s just Wade and Zoe are planning this big event at the Rammer Jammer for Valentine’s Day and I was kind of hoping maybe you could make it down here for that, but now I’m guessing probably not.”

“Valentine’s Day, huh?” Joel said, reaching for his cell and staring at it while flipping through screens. “Wow. Um, that’s not much notice.”

“It’s almost a week and I would’ve told you sooner but our little call here got delayed twice already,” said AB, no lack of frustration in her tone, though she tried desperately to keep it down to a dull roar.

“You’re mad at me,” Joel realised. “AB, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, I’m not mad. I swear, I’m not,” she insisted, even though she was, just a little bit. “I’m more... disappointed, I guess. I miss you is all.”

“I miss you too. You know I do.”

Of course, she knew that. The trouble was, every time AB found herself a man, it seemed to be the same old story. There was always something in the way of her happy ever after ending. With Joel it wasn’t his wandering eye or an inability to commit to her, as she had experienced with other guys. It wasn’t even that she didn’t like him well enough, because she absolutely did. The real problem was only how damn popular and successful her man was. How was a person supposed to be mad at another person for something like that anyway?

“AB? Did I lose the connection again?” said Joel then, the picture shaking around as he made adjustments to the computer.

“I’m still here,” she promised, realising she must’ve lost concentration for a little too long. “Joel, honey, I need you to know I am honestly so proud of you, and I’m sorry for making a big deal about the fact you can’t be here. I’m fine, I swear. You go do great things for a while longer and I guess when you’re not so crazy with your big meetings and all, then we’ll figure something out.”

Joel gave her a winning smile in response to her understanding. “You are the greatest, most supportive woman in the world, Annabeth Nass,” he told her sincerely. “You know I love you, right?”

“Yes, I do,” said AB, grinning right back at him, “and I love you too.”

* * *

Zoe had only just got the file for Scarlett Kincaid hidden away when Lemon walked in. It pulled her up sharply and her eyes went right to Brick’s door. Chances were good he was okay by now, done with the over-emotional moment that had occurred after his ex-wife breezed through to pick up her new daughter. One thing was for sure, Lemon was going to go off the wall when she found out Alice was around. Zoe could almost feel sorry for her right now.

“What is that ridiculous look on your face for?” asked Lemon, staring Zoe down.

“Well, I _almost_ felt sorry for you,” she muttered to herself before walking out from behind the reception desk. “Lemon, how are you? Here for a social visit or is it medical? I’m not sure we have anything for what you’re suffering with.”

“I’m not suffering with anything,” said Lemon, shaking her head.

“Huh. Must be the lighting... or maybe you always look that way.” Zoe smiled smugly before heading back to her office, almost making it through the door before she realised she really wasn’t helping anything by being so unnecessarily mean. “Um, I’m sorry,” she said, turning back to Lemon before she had a chance to disappear into Brick’s room. “I just... It’s been a long day. I shouldn’t take it out on you, at least, not when I haven’t really been provoked.”

“Well, my, my, Zoe Hart,” said Lemon, wide-eyed and amazed apparently. “Was that a real live apology for something you did wrong? Heaven knows that’s a rarity to behold.”

“I can take it back if it’d make you feel better,” Zoe shot back.

“Makes not a jot of difference to me,” Lemon assured her. “Just because you’re seeing my friend and I’m seeing yours, doesn’t mean we have to be close or anything,” she said definitely, folding her arms across her chest.

“I agree.” Zoe nodded once, copying Lemon’s stance. “However, I was thinking, maybe, it might be nice if we could at least try a little harder to get along, you know, for the people who care about both of us. Wade, Lavon, Brick,” she listed, her eyes shifting to the door and back one more time.

Zoe wasn’t aware that her expression had changed that much when she mentioned Lemon’s father and yet from the way she reacted, something had clearly happened.

“Is there something I should know about my daddy, Dr Hart?” she asked suspiciously. “Because if you’re keeping something from me...”

“As far as I know, Lemon, there is nothing at all wrong with your father’s health,” she told her honestly, “not that it would be my place to tell you if there was, but as far as I know, there’s not, okay?”

Lemon looked set to argue for a minute, which was her default setting after all, but then she sighed.

“Fine,” she said, nodding once. “I guess it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to try to find some common _ground_, however small, for the sake of others. Wade was practically begging me to play nice the other day, big softy that he is.”

“Lavon had a similar talk with me.” Zoe smiled, unable to help it. “They really are a pair of giant softies.”

Lemon barely contained a giggle but managed to shake it off before she really looked like she might be enjoying a single moment spent with Zoe Hart. Clearing her throat and straightening herself up, she was back to her serious self in no time at all.

“I told Wade that if he needed any help with organising the Valentine’s Day dance, I’d gladly pitch in,” she explained. “Fancie’s will of course be open to those who want a more refined evening, but I still have a soft spot for my old business... and my old business partner, I guess.”

“If we need you, we’ll yell,” Zoe assured her, “but I think Wade has it pretty under control. I’m just pitching in to help with decorations, since Wanda is out of commission. Of all people, I actually think Meatball has been the most help. Did you know his cousin is some kind of country star?”

Lemon frowned a moment in apparent deep thought and then suddenly snapped her fingers. “Of course, Pamela Bailey. My Lord, he doesn’t really think she’ll play the Rammer Jammer, does he? She is more high and mighty than any woman I ever met.”

“Really?” asked Zoe, purposefully wide-eyed with even more shock than she even felt at that comment, though she was hoping the smile she let creep through would take the edge off what might otherwise have sounded insulting.

“I will choose to let that one go, Zoe Hart,” said Lemon, smirking back at her, “on account of us calling a truce and all.”

“Is that what we did?” Zoe checked. “Well, then, let’s make it official,” she decided, sticking out her hand. “From now on, you and I will _genuinely_ try to get along, for those soft boyfriends of ours, and any other people around this crazy town that don’t deserve to get caught in the crossfire. Truce?”

“Truce,” Lemon agreed, shaking on the deal.

Happy with the progress made, Zoe headed for her office, but the moment she turned her back, Lemon spoke up again.

“Nice earrings, by the way.”

“Thanks,” said Zoe, looking back, hand going absently to her right ear. “They were a-”

“An early birthday gift from Wade?” Lemon smiled. “Really? You thought you actually found a man with good taste in jewellery?”

A chuckle of laughter escaped Zoe’s lips. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Lemon assured her, disappearing into Brick’s office without another word.

* * *

George pulled up at the red light and winced. The car alongside was blaring music so loud, he’d be surprised if people on the other side of town weren’t covering their ears to get away from it. Of course, the bigger problem ought to be that the driver had decided a stop light was a good place to make out with his girlfriend.

Honking his horn to let the kid know the light was now green, George got a real shock when he realised the girl in the passenger side was one he recognised. Seemed Miss Magnolia Breeland had snagged herself a real prize from someplace.

“Thank God that has nothing to do with me anymore,” George muttered to himself, driving on down the street.

Of course, where he was headed wasn’t exactly a place he wanted to be either. Maybe dealing with the Truitt Brothers wasn’t as bad as dealing with Lemon’s little sister and her crazy antics, but they could be just as troublesome in their own special way. That said, Randy, Rocket, and Chicken could actually sing at least, and that wasn’t nothing.

Arriving at their house, George went up to the door and raised a hand to knock. Before he could, the door swung open as if by itself and there was Chicken.

“Hey, it’s Tucker!” he said happily, dragging George inside before he could protest.

“Now why couldn’t our Tansy justa stayed with him,” Randy asked Rocket, shaking his head. “I swear, he mighta screwed up in his own way, but he was never half so bad as that damn Scooter McGreevey.”

“What the hell kinda name is that anyway?” said Rocket, taking a long drink of his beer. “Damn stupid if you ask me.”

“Guys, come on. I don’t think Tansy would like you talkin’ about her or her fiancé this way,” said George, trying not to wince on the word ‘fiancé’ when it pertained to McGreevey.

“You gone crazy, George Tucker?” asked Chicken, taking a big swig from what could only be a bottle of moonshine, George was sure. “Our Tansy ain’t marryin’ that fool.”

“And thank the Lord for it!” said Randy, clinking his own bottle against his brother’s own.

They carried on talking after that, but George stopped hearing a word. Inside his head, his mind was racing. Tansy wasn’t marrying McGreevey, which meant he never asked her or he did but she said no. Either way, George suddenly realised that he maybe still had a shot.

“Hey, Tucker. You okay?” asked Chicken then, his hand on George’s shoulder and finally getting his attention. “You gonna throw up or somethin’?”

“No. I’m fine, I just... I’ll be back,” he told the brothers, waving a hand at them. “I swear, I’ll be back and then we’ll rehearse, I just gotta do one thing first.”

George wasn’t usually one for breaking the law, it came from being a lawyer as well as a stand-up guy in general, but on this one occasion there was a good chance he broke a speed limit or two, maybe even ran a red light. Honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure of anything but getting to Tansy just as fast as he could.

Banging on her door, he only prayed she answered, and then when he saw her standing there, he could only hope what he thought might be true really was.

“Tansy,” he breathed. “Your brothers just told me.”

“Told you, what?” she asked, shaking her head.

“About you and Scott, how you’re not... well, you’re not engaged,” he explained fast. “Now I can’t think he was dumb enough not to ask you.”

“He asked me,” Tansy confessed, nodding her head.

“He did, and...?”

“And I was goin’ to say yes, I really was,” said Tansy honestly, biting her lip a second before going on, “but then I thought o’ you, George Tucker, and damn it, I... I just couldn’t say anythin’ but no.”

George hadn’t meant to laugh, but there was already a big grin stretching his lips so wide, and when he heard the truth from Tansy, he couldn’t keep the happiness inside himself any more.

“So, that means that you...?” he started, sure he must be right but needing to be absolutely sure before he screwed up all over again.

“Yes, George Tucker.” Tansy nodded her head. “Despite how dumb I probably am for sayin’ so, I do still love you.”

That was it, those words were all George needed to hear. In a second his arms were around Tansy and he was kissing her like his life depended on it. When they finally parted to breathe, they were both smiling.

“I love you too, Tans,” George promised her, “and I swear, this time, it’s all gonna work out,” he said definitely, kissing her one more time.


	9. Chapter 9

Zoe turned around when she heard the knock on her carriage house door and someone calling her name.

“Come in, Lavon!” she yelled back, pushing the last pin into her hair and stepping back from the mirror with a smile.

Lavon whistled low when he saw her. “That is some get-up you have on there. Very classy,” he said, looking her over in all her 1940s soldier-girl glory. “And this is somethin’ to do with superheroes?”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Agent Peggy Carter,” she said, the words deliberately sounding a lot like ‘duh’. “Captain America’s true love?”

“Woah now, hold up a second. We get to the Rammer Jammer and Wade’s gonna be all dressed up in the red, white, and blue?” he asked with a grin.

“No.” Zoe laughed at the very idea. “Actually, we talked about it, but in the end, he went with out-of-costume Steve Rogers from the first movie, you know, just the army uniform thing, like me. I know nobody else will probably get it, but it was such a great movie and they were so in love,” she said with a sigh.

“Hey, it makes you happy, Big Z, then that is all that matters,” Lavon assured her.

“You look great, by the way,” she told him then. “Rhett Butler?” she checked.

“My Lemon does still love an excuse to get back into a froufrou dress once in a while.” Lavon rolled his eyes. “But...”

“If it makes her happy,” Zoe finished for him. “Yeah, I know. I am glad you’re happy Lavon, even if it is with Lemon and I don’t understand how you ever could be.”

“Some folks used to wonder how exactly you and Wade worked the way you do,” Lavon pointed out, “but hey, look at the two of you now. So sweet and in love, it’s almost enough to make cupid throw up, though I gotta admit, I like seein’ that too.”

“Me too.” Zoe grinned.

“So, we just about ready to head out? We leave Lemon waitin’ any longer and I’m gonna have to hear an hour on how it’s my fault her dress is wrinkled all to hell.”

Zoe laughed, took the arm Lavon offered her, and let him lead her out to the car. It might’ve been nice if she could go to the dance with her boyfriend instead of tagging along with friends, but he was running the whole event. Besides, she would see Wade at the party itself and he had already promised he would find time to dance with her and everything.

Checking her watch once she was in the car, Zoe soon found herself smiling once again. If all went according to plan, she wouldn’t be the only one really enjoying Valentine’s Day either.

“You think it’s all going to plan?” asked Lemon from the back seat, all of the space back there filled up with the many acres of her Scarlett O’Hara dress.

“His flight landed at three and Tom Long promised to pick him up and take him straight to the Whippoorwill, which is where I left his costume for him,” Zoe explained. “No texts is a good sign. I told him to only let me know if anything went wrong. I didn’t want to risk hearing from him in front of her and making her suspicious.”

“She is goin’ to be so thrilled that he went to so much effort for her.” Lemon sighed. “Sometimes men can be pretty nice to have around, can’t they?”

“Lemon, I would have to say, for once, I wholeheartedly agree with you.” Zoe grinned at her in the rear-view, meaning every word.

* * *

“Well, well, Miss Annabeth, don’t you look all kinds of special?” said Wade as he poured her a glass of pink Valentine’s Day punch.

“Thank you,” she replied, forcing a smile, though it was gone almost as fast as it appeared and she downed her drink faster than Wade might’ve expected.

“Okay then,” he said, wide-eyed with surprise. “Uh, you feelin’ okay, AB?” he checked then, almost worried that she might tell him the truth about that.

Depressed people were often found propping up bars and Wade had become adept at dealing with them, but women on the verge of tears put him all on edge these days. Besides, Annabeth was a friend of his, the last thing he wanted was to see her upset.

“I’m just... lonely, I guess,” she said, sighing heavily. “I asked Joel to come along tonight. I thought it’s just one night, and it is Valentine’s Day after all, most important date in the calendar for lovers, you know? But he has meetings and commitments and... well, here I am again, a princess without a prince,” she said, gesturing to her outfit that she had seemed so pleased with before.

“Well, now, how about we just find you a stand-up guy to go with that fancy outfit you have on?” said Wade, smirking when he saw who just walked in the door. “You think that’d be a plan?”

“I have a guy, Wade,” AB reminded him snippily, waving her glass around in want of a refill apparently. “He’s just not here right now.”

“You sure on that?” he asked her, refusing her more booze since he was pretty sure in about ten seconds, she wouldn’t be wanting it anyhow.

AB startled as hands covered her eyes from behind.

“Guess who?”

Her mouth dropped open at the sound of a familiar voice and then she spun around so fast on her stool, Wade half expected her to land on her butt on the floor. It was only thanks to good old Joel taking a hold of her that she didn’t.

“What are you doing here?” AB cried happily, throwing her arms around her boyfriend.

“Hey, when a beautiful woman invites you to a Valentine’s Day dance, you show up,” said Joel, hugging her close a while then pulling back to see her face. “Only a fool would say no to that, right, Wade?” he said glancing at his friend.

“True enough, brother,” Wade agreed, reaching out a hand to shake with Joel. “Almost looks to me like this was a plan, Shakespeare,” he said, taking in Joel’s costume then and causing AB to do the same. “And somehow, I think maybe my girlfriend had a little something to do with this set-up.”

“Hey, what am I being accused of?” asked Zoe as she appeared at the bar.

“Zoe.” AB shook her head in wonderment. “Did you...?”

“Did I, what?” she asked, in innocence that Wade at least knew was entirely fake. “Oh, hey, Joel. What on earth are you doing here? This is such a surprise!”

AB knew she was kidding and moved to hug her friend so tight. “You are the best. Y’all are the best,” she told them all with a giddy grin.

“No, I’m pretty sure you’re the best, Annabeth Nass,” Joel assured her, pulling her back into her arms and kissing her lips. “So, you wanna dance?”

“Yes, sir, I do,” she said definitely as the couple headed for the dancefloor.

“Well, I think that went pretty well, doc,” said Wade, leaning down on the bar so close that when Zoe turned back to look at him, he barely had to move to kiss her. “You look amazing, by the way.”

“Hmm, you too,” she said, giving him an appraising look. “But I’m guessing this is as close as we’re getting for a while?” 

“Give me an hour, then I got reinforcements coming in to the man the bar and I am all yours, Miss Carter,” he promised with a wink.

“I’ll hold you to that, Captain,” she said with a grin, claiming one more kiss before he had to get back to work for a while.

* * *

Zoe was starting to get a little tired of waiting for Wade to be done working. His hour was up a while ago now and still he hadn’t managed to get out from behind the bar. Seemed whoever he was expecting to relieve him of his duties hadn’t shown up, and with one thing and another, he just hadn’t gotten the chance to escape and dance with his girlfriend yet.

It wasn’t as if she wasn’t having a pretty good time anyway. Pamela Bailey was providing some amazing music and she had even gotten to dance when AB and Lemon both offered up their men to her, certain that she would behave herself and return them after just the one song, as promised.

Zoe got to talk with friends and neighbours, and several people complimented her on her outfit, especially Tom Long who was happy to regale her with stories from the original Marvel Comics source material, until Wanda declared she was overtired and needed him to take her home already.

If she ran out of anything else to entertain her, Zoe knew she could always look down the bar and check out the fireworks that the Breeland girls were causing. Magnolia’s boy toy was cute enough, but he seemed to know it a little too much. Anytime his date turned her back, he was lapping up the attention of other girls, but despite Lemon’s repeated attempts to make her sister see that Chet was no good, Magnolia just wasn’t listening.

“That is going to end badly,” she said to herself, shaking her head.

“Just what I was thinkin’,” said Wade close to her ear. “You been keepin’ the same eye on them that I have, doc?” he asked her now he had her attention.

“Kind of,” she admitted. “I’d say what on earth does she see in him, but I guess I get it. If I were sixteen, I’d be all over him too, and probably just as blind to his flaws.”

When Zoe suddenly heard laughter she was surprised to look back at Wade and find it was him busting a gut at what she said. “What?”

“Nothin’. It’s nothin’ at all” he assured her, waving a hand but Zoe wasn’t letting it go that easy. “It’s just, well, from what I’ve seen of that kid the past few days he’s been hanging around, awful as he is in a lot of ways... well, he reminds me of me, more than a bit, as I was at his age anyhow.”

Zoe frowned a little, looking over at Chet who was once again winking at other girls and paying no mind to Magnolia. Dressed as he was in cowboy gear and being the most terrible flirt, Zoe supposed she could see some similarity between him and Wade.

“Huh,” she said, eyes returning to Wade. “Well, I guess that makes sense. If we met at that age, maybe we would’ve got together a whole lot sooner.”

“Yeah, well, frankly, I’m glad we didn’t,” said Wade, continuing fast when he saw the look that remark caused on Zoe’s face. “What I mean is, I was not, in any way, good enough for a girl like you back then. Sometimes wonder if I am even now, but back then? Not a damn chance,” he told her, shaking his head.

“I’m not sure I believe that,” Zoe considered, staring up at him, “but either way, I’m very glad we’re together now.”

“Me too,” Wade agreed. “You ready for that dance I promised you now, doc?”

“More than ready, soldier,” she assured hm with a smile.

Within a minute they were out on the dance floor with their arms around each other, swaying to a slow number and loving finally being together for a little while.

“Hmm, this is nice,” she said happily leaning into him.

“I’m sorry it took me so long, baby,” he apologised, kissing her hair. “Great as it is running my own place and all, kinda hard to have a date to your own dance.”

“It’s fine,” she promised him, looking up to meet his eyes. “We have plenty more romantic events ahead of us, just maybe next time, roster on some more bar staff when your girlfriend is waiting to dance with you, okay?”

“That’s a deal, doc,” Wade promised, kissing her smile. “Plenty more romantic events, huh?” he said then, considering her words. “I do like the sound of that.”

“We have a beautiful future in front of us, Wade Kinsella. I am determined on that.”

“Well, I make it a rule never to argue with a beautiful woman.”

“Very smart move.”

The kissing resumed, the two of them getting caught up in the moment, much like so many other couples around them actually. It was only when some serious yelling started up from further down the bar that all those same couples parted, the music stopped, and the party came to a screeching halt.

“Chet!” Magnolia screamed at him. “Oh my God, what are you doin’?!”

Seemed he had been caught out doing more than a little kissing this time as the younger Miss Breeland pushed Chet out into public view, rebuttoning his shirt.

Wade glared at the scene and shook his head. “Okay, that’s it. This boy needs a lesson in civility.”

Zoe was startled when he suddenly slipped away from her, storming over to the bar and retrieving what turned out to be a baseball bat. She was about to run over and try to convince Wade not to go too far in protecting Magnolia’s honour, only for the girl to whip the bat from Wade’s hands just as soon as he got close, swinging it wildly at Chet with both hands. She was really out for blood, threatening that he would lose both his sight and his manhood if he didn’t run. The boy was sensible enough to clear out just as fast as he could.

“Wow, that was... not what I was expecting to see when I walked in here.”

Zoe turned sharply at the sound of George Tucker’s voice and smiled at the sight of him and Tansy with their arms around each other.

“Hey, you made it,” she said happily. “We thought maybe you forgot about tonight.”

“We remembered.” Tansy nodded. “We just got caught up... making up for lost time,” she said with a look.

“Uh-huh.” Zoe nodded in understanding, even as she looked over the outfits they were wearing.

“Well, we had to get here eventually,” said George, clearing his throat from embarrassment at what Tansy just confessed, Zoe was sure. “Tans spent long enough on these outfits, had to get the chance to show ‘em off.”

“I have wanted to be Barbie since I was barely knee high to a grasshopper,” Tansy enthused, “and doesn’t George just make the handsomest Ken you ever saw?”

“Not bad at all,” Zoe said with a smile, “but personally, I like my guy better.”

A look of understanding passed between the two women then before George led Tansy further onto the dance floor as the music began again.

Zoe was glad to see Wade heading her way again. He deposited his baseball bat back behind the bar and came back to join her with a smile.

“Now, where were we, doc?”

“Right here, Captain,” she said, putting her arms up around her neck.

“That seems right to me, Miss Carter,” he said, hands sliding around her waist as he leant down to kiss her.

All in all, it really was a perfect Valentine’s Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you understand the significance of Wade being dressed up as Captain America then you get a virtual cookie ;)


	10. Chapter 10

“Well, I think we can call Saturday night a success,” said Wade, hitting a button on the calculator and smiling widely. “Check this out.”

Zoe leaned further over the bar to see the figures and her eyes went wide.

“Wow. You did good, Kinsella,” she told him, putting up her hand for a high five.

Wade’s hand met hers and then took hold, keeping her close as he leaned down to kiss her lips. If he could’ve dragged her up over that bar, he would’ve, but this time around there was actually people watching.

“You do know there are folks over here trying to eat,” said Dash with a look that proved he was teasing when the couple bothered to look.

“Actually, that’s kind of the point,” said Zoe with a look of her own. “Business is booming.”

“’Course it prob’ly doesn’t hurt any that the Pritchett sisters took their burritos and hit the road,” Wade considered, “but I’ll take the win. Valentine’s Day did us proud. Meatball’s cousin sure was a hit.”

“I know, right?” Zoe shook her head. “I’m still having trouble figuring out how somebody so talented can be related to someone so... like Meatball,” she said diplomatically.

Wade couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, it is a mind-bender. I don’t know if Pamela Bailey will ever set foot in a place like Bluebell again, but she has a standing invitation to play the Rammer Jammer if she helps my takings that much.”

“I don’t think it was all about her,” said Zoe, considering it as she sipped her coffee. “You throw a good party, Wade, and there are so many happy couples in town right now, a Valentine’s Day event was just a really good idea. I think pretty much everybody had a great time. Well, except for Magnolia, I guess,” she said as her eyes caught on the baseball bat stood up behind the bar.

“Hey, that girl held her own.”

“She did, but if she hadn’t, you seemed ready to storm in and save the day. That was actually pretty cool. Certainly living up to your superhero persona.” Zoe smiled at the thought.

Wade closed up his ledger and leaned on the counter near to Zoe, lowering his voice.

“I wasn’t tryin’ to be a hero, sweetheart,” he told her easily. “Fact is, Magnolia Breeland is a pain in the butt, but she is also Lemon’s sister. Besides, I’ve known her since she was in diapers. There was no way in hell I was gonna stand by and see anything awful happen to her.”

If anything, that only made Zoe smiled wider. “Just like I said. Hero,” she insisted, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him firmly on the lips. “I should really go to work.”

“Go on then, get,” he told her, leaning over the bar to smack her on the butt as she walked away.

“Seriously?” she yelled over her shoulder as she left, but she was smiling just the same. “Oh, hey, Wade? You have a delivery!” she called to him as she got to the door.

Wade chased after her then, getting to the exit just as Lucy wheeled the trolley carrying a couple of cases of beer right on over.

“Hey, Wade. You musta had a real good night Saturday if you gotta restock this much.”

“You know it, baby,” he told her with a grin. “Now get your fine self in here and I’ll tell you all about it,” he promised her.

Wade didn’t even notice that Zoe was staring at him, no longer wearing that same smile from before. She wasn’t exactly frowning either because she knew she didn’t really have a reason to. Wade was friendly with everybody. Mostly girls, but it wasn’t as if she didn’t know that long before they got together the first time, nevermind this go around. He didn’t mean anything by the flirting or the pet names, and yet, just lately, it had started to get to her. Earlier this morning, she caught him charming the postal worker into mailing a return package for him, and the other day she discovered that he hadn’t paid a bill at the Butter Stick in years.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zoe told herself, heading off to work, knowing it wasn’t exactly beyond her to be friendly with the guys in her life.

She would flirt her butt off if she needed to get out of a speeding ticket or something, it was the way of the world. The difference was, with her, banter and flirting was all she had ever done with guys that weren’t her boyfriend at the time. Wade used to be different with all those other girls.

“_Used_ to be,” she reminded herself out loud. “Not anymore.”

“You okay there, Dr Hart?” asked Brick, falling into step beside her as they neared the practice. “You know, although it’s not medical fact, they do say talking to yourself is the first sign of madness.”

He smiled when he said it, a simple joke, of course, but Zoe had to try too hard to smile back. She shook her head and told him she was fine, just too much on her mind.

“Anyway, if anyone out of the two of us should be asking if the other is okay, it should be me asking you,” she said, eyes darting left and right to see that no-one was listening in. “How did things go with Alice?”

Brick sighed and ushered her up the steps into the practice. “I haven’t even talked to the girls about it yet, and quite honestly, I’m not sure how to begin...”

* * *

“I really wish you didn’t have to go away again so fast.” AB sighed, watching Joel shove the last of his things into his overnight bag. “You just got here.”

“I know,” he replied, pulling the zipper closed and looking over at her hovering in the doorway, “and believe me, if I could stay longer, I would, but people are expecting me. Technically, I should’ve left last night. Remind me again why I didn’t,” he urged her, wandering over and taking her into his arms.

“Oh, I think you had a real good reason to hang around,” said AB, putting her arms up around his neck and moving in closer. “It started somethin’ like this...”

She kissed him then, just as she had late Sunday afternoon when she did a real good job of convincing him to catch a later flight and stay one more night. With a little luck, she figured maybe Joel might regret asking her to remind him what happened. She was deliberately being so very tempting, hoping he might stay a little while longer yet.

Annabeth knew it was beneath her to use her feminine wiles in such a way, but she couldn’t help it. Having a boyfriend was all well and good. Having one as sweet and amazing as Joel was even better, but he was so far away all of the time, and she missed the heck out of him.

“I really, really have to go,” he told her then, pulling away a little. “You know I do.”

“I feel like that’s the thing I hear you say most of anything,” she said sadly. “‘I have to go.’ It’s like your catchphrase or somethin’.”

“It won’t be forever, I promise,” he swore, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’d say you can come with me, but I already tried that before and it doesn’t go well for me.”

“Joel, you know I can’t do that.” AB sighed, arms sliding from around him as she turned away.

“See, you say that but I still don’t understand why,” he told her. “What’s keeping you here? I mean, sure, you have a house and some friends, plus your receptionist job at the practice, but I’m not asking you to be away from them forever. Just for a little while maybe. You could stay at my apartment in New York, or my place in LA, or just travel with me.”

“Joel,” she said, putting one hand to her forehead. “I can’t,” she insisted, knowing before he said it that his next question would once again be why.

AB had her reasons, one above all others, and yet she never really told him what it was. She was always vague and though he never really got mad about it at all, he did get frustrated with her. She was being unfair, Annabeth was well aware. For her to be complaining about him not being where she was and then refusing to be wherever he needed to be, it made no real sense, not to anyone but herself, and even she was struggling with her own reasons at this point.

“Annabeth,” he said, moving in to wrap his arms around her from behind. “Please, there has to be some real reason why you’re so against being anywhere that’s not Bluebell.”

“Hey, I came to that fancy hotel with you a while back,” she reminded him, turning in his arms to fix him with a look. “That was outside of Bluebell. Trust me, the train journey was long.”

“I told you I would’ve paid for you to fly, it would’ve been much easier and faster and...”

When Joel stopped talking very abruptly and frowned at her, AB realised she had given herself away. It was a miracle that she had kept her secret this long, but then she had always managed to get away from the subject when they had this talk before. She could pretend the Skype connection got stuck or hide her face in the shadows of a dark hotel room, even run off to the bathroom where she could no longer be questioned. This time, Joel was here, he was between her and the door, and he was looking right at her the whole time.

“You don’t like to fly?” said Joel, tilting his head as he looked at her. “You’re afraid of flying?”

“I never flew, okay?” AB suddenly exploded. “I never had a reason to get on a plane and, frankly, the idea of it scares me to death!” she confessed, complete with wild arm gestures that almost took Joel’s eye out and probably would’ve if he wasn’t wearing his glasses. “On top of that, I just... I don’t have a whole lot of experience of big city life, and with all those fancy people that you know, I’d feel so... well, small town.”

“Annabeth, no.” Joel shook his head. “You are in no way small town. I mean, you do come from a small town, obviously, but you’re just... you’re amazing and beautiful and smart, and I so want to show you New York and LA and have you meet all my friends and colleagues. I’d be so proud and so happy to have you with me.”

“Really? You sure on that?” she checked, feeling teary all of a sudden, even more so than she had when she knew they had to say goodbye again.

“I am very sure,” he promised her with a smile, holding her close in his arms again. “And the flying thing, well, there are ways to get over that kind of fear. Maybe Zoe could help, you know, with some relaxation techniques or a referral to a hypnotist?”

“Or a big old tranquiliser, maybe?” AB suggested, only half-joking.

Joel laughed anyway. “I don’t think she’ll go that far, but if you wanted to give it a try, I know we can find a way. Honestly? I think you’d fit right in anywhere. You’re just that kind of person.”

“What kind of person?”

“The best kind that everybody loves,” Joel promised her, smiling at her fondly. “I know I do. I love you, Annabeth Nass.”

“I love you too, Joel Stephens,” she replied in kind, reaching up to kiss him one more time.

* * *

“Hey there, baby,” said Wade as Zoe walked into the carriage house. “I just came by for some clothes. Seems most of ‘em end up here instead of at home and I am seriously runnin’ out of shirts,” he said, scratching the back of his head as he surveyed the room for further missing clothing.

Zoe didn’t look like she heard him somehow, even though she must have. Wade was about to ask her what was up when suddenly one of his shirts hit him in the side of the head. Startled by even the minor impact, Wade pulled the shirt down from where it had half wrapped around his neck and looked back at Zoe. She had her arms folded across her chest and a look on her face that could not be good.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “So, you’re mad. Well, I didn’t touch your car, or eat the cookies your mom sent, or use up your froufrou shampoo, so help me out, doc. What’d I do?”

“Nothing,” she said eventually.

“You sure on that?” asked Wade warily, “’cause that look on your face says different.”

He stared at her for a long while and Zoe seemed to be debating something in her head, like whether or not she really wanted to say it or not. Wade sort of wished she just would already, because whatever it was, however much trouble he was in, he would really rather know now, instead of having to stand there wondering how bad it was about to get.

“I was talking to Annabeth today,” she said at last. “She and Joel had a really great weekend but then he had to go away again, obviously,” she explained, moving to perch on the end of the bed and crossing her legs. “He wants AB to go be with him, in the city or travelling around, whatever. He just really, really wants her to be wherever he is, you know?”

“Right.” Wade nodded slowly. “And that’s somethin’ that makes you mad?” he checked, really not understanding how any of this added up to Zoe wanting to throw things at his head.

“No, of course not,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I just... They’re so together. They were talking about what happens next, you know? When Joel is done having to travel so much, maybe they’ll make a home here, but maybe it’ll be somewhere else. They don’t really care so as long as they’re together, but they have a plan.”

“Well, we had a plan,” Wade reminded her, daring to sit down beside her now she looked a little less bent out of shape and was actually starting to explain herself.

“Yes, we _had_ a plan,” Zoe repeated. “Had, past tense. We did the whole starting over, taking it slow thing, which was great and it worked out, but now we’re in the middle again.”

“And that’s bad?” asked Wade, feeling a headache coming on. “’Cause honestly, doc, I thought we had a pretty good thing going, all things considered.”

“It is good, Wade, of course it is,” she insisted, uncrossing her arms and reaching to pick up his free hand in both of her own. “You know I love you, right?”

“Sure,” he told her with a smile. “And you know I love you too.”

“I do,” she replied and yet there was something in the way her eyes went down and her voice got quiet that made him doubt her.

“Zoe, come on,” he said, ducking his head to see her face and waiting until she met his eyes again before he continued. “You do know that I love you. Why would you ever think I stopped?”

“I don’t, not really,” she told him definitely. “I’m sorry, I’m just... It’s just this morning with the postal worker and then the delivery girl at the bar and... There are a lot of girls in your life, Wade. _A lot._”

“’Cause there are no guys in yours?” Wade countered, smirking because he couldn’t hardly help it. “Baby, you spend more time with Lavon than anybody, and whether I like it or not, you and George Tucker have always been close.”

“That’s different.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “Lavon is like my brother, and while I’ll admit that there was something between George and me once upon a time, that’s ancient history now. You and these women that run around doing everything for you and being all flirty and stuff... it’s weird.”

Wade almost laughed at how dumb that sounded but it didn’t quite happen, not given the serious look on Zoe’s face. She meant this. It was really bothering her that Wade got his flirt on a little with other girls. He opened his mouth to tell her that was ridiculous before realising that was probably the wrong thing to say. Maybe it wasn’t so dumb. He had just insisted she had guy friends same as he had girl friends and it was true, but he never had to worry about her making eyes at Lavon or even Tucker these days. Zoe didn’t flirt with other guys because she was with him. The realisation of what he was doing, albeit not deliberately, suddenly hit Wade Kinsella right between the eyes.

“Hey,” he said, his finger tilting Zoe’s chin until she looked at him again. “I am sorry if I have done anything that made you think, even for one second, that I could ever feel about anybody else the way I feel about you,” he told her definitely. “You are the love of my life, Zoe Hart, and the only woman in the world I could be this crazy for. I know I have a habit of bein’... well, friendly with other women. I guess it just never occurred to me that it mattered much, since I know I don’t mean anythin’ by it, but you’re right. I wouldn’t care much for it if the boot was on the other foot, so I’ll stop, okay? Or I’ll try to stop. Might take a few more shirts to the head before I get there, but I will, I promise.”

Zoe smiled genuinely at him then and Wade hoped it was more from the promise he was making to her than the poor jokes involved.

“Thank you,” she said softly, her hand at his cheek as she leaned in to kiss his lips. “You know where I think this would look really good?” she asked him then, between further kisses, as she began unbuttoning the shirt he wore.

“I think I can prob’ly guess,” Wade told her, pushing her jacket from her shoulders as he trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck.

Before long, all their clothes were covering Zoe’s floor and neither she nor Wade cared at all.


	11. Chapter 11

“It’s been a couple o’ weeks now since you found out. You feelin’ any clearer about what you wanna do?”

“Not really.” Lemon sighed, hunched over the counter and staring down into her tea cup like she might find all the answers in there.

Lavon hated to see her so down. Things just hadn’t been right since she found out her mom had made contact with Brick again. All Lavon wanted was to help, but there was only so much he could do. The fact that it was upset over Alice that had pushed Lemon into his arms the first time around certainly occurred to him more than once, but comfort for pain was easy enough to provide back then and even now. Actually, helping the woman he loved to figure out what to do when it came to not just her reappearing mother but also a new half-sister, that was so much tougher.

Lemon suddenly pushed her tea away and huffed out a sigh.

“I had almost wrapped my head around the concept that Shelby Sinclair was going to be a permanent fixture in my daddy’s life. That I was probably going to have to call her my step-mother and take my turn raising baby Ethel too,” she said crossly.

“And you’re doin’ real good with all of that,” Lavon assured her.

“Thank you,” she said, finding him half a smile, her hand covering his at her shoulder. “I really was tryin’, but now with her comin’ back around, and little Scarlet...” she trailed off, shaking her head. “I want to make it better for all of us, Lavon, I really do, but... but I don’t think I have it in me to forgive the woman who walked out on me, and my daddy, and my little sister when she was only two years old.”

There were tears in her eyes and a shake in her voice that Lemon hardly ever allowed another living soul to see or hear. Lavon knew it was only because she loved and trusted him so much that she let herself show that kind of vulnerability. Pulling her into his arms, he hugged her close and tried to comfort her.

“Family ain’t easy,” he said knowingly. “I wish I could make it better for you, Lemon, I truly do.”

Pulling back, she gave him a more genuine smile. “You just being here and being so sweet to me helps a lot,” she promised, her hand at his cheek. “Sometimes I wonder what I ever did without you.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he replied, smiling at her just as fondly then leaning in to kiss her lips.

“Well, as much as I would love to hang around and let this continue,” Lemon told him then, “I should be going. Annabeth needs my help shopping for new clothes in honour of her going to visit with Joel next month. Of course, she probably also needs talking down from a ledge right about now since this whole trip means her gettin’ on a plane for the first time in her life.”

“I thought Zoe helped her out with that, hooked her up with that hypnotherapist in Mobile and all?”

“She did.” Lemon nodded. “But AB is almost as strong-willed as I am these days. You think some fanciful doctor with a pocket watch and starin’ eyes could ever talk me out of anything at all?” she asked, pulling on her jacket and putting her purse on her shoulder, ready to leave.

“No, I absolutely do not,” said Lavon with a knowing look. “Still, you tell Annabeth I wish her the very best o’ luck with everything.”

“I will do that,” Lemon agreed, sparing him one last kiss. “I do love you, you know that, right?” she told him, lingering a moment.

“I do.” Lavon nodded. “And I love you too, more than anything.”

* * *

“Well, it’s alright for you, Tom Long. You don’t have to be the one to carry this child around, with the swelling ankles and the heartburn and the back pain. It’s your fault I’m suffering like this in the first place, you... you _man_!”

Wanda went storming out of the Rammer Jammer, paying no mind to who might be in her way. Poor Zoe had to put her back against the wall, holding her hands up in surrender as the very pregnant Wanda blew by her, closely followed by Tom who was talking a mile a minute, all apologies and pleading for forgiveness.

“Wow,” said Zoe as she approached the bar. “So, pregnancy. Looks like a tonne of fun,” she deadpanned, pulling herself up onto a stool.

“She may be just a little thing, and sweet as pie most of the time, but I don’t mind tellin’ ya, right now, Wanda actually scares me,” Wade admitted, shuddering just thinking about her temper possibly being aimed at him instead of poor Tom.

Zoe smiled. “I’m sure she’ll be fine once the baby is actually here,” she assured him. “All that pressure and all the hormones and everything, it’s a lot for a body to go through. I remember my time in maternity a little too well. Lots of anger and pain,” she said, taking her turn at shuddering just as Wade put a glass of wine down in front of her.

“Yeah, but they say it’s all worth it in the end, doc,” he reminded her, leaning on the bar to talk with her. “If everybody got too caught up in the downsides of having kids, there wouldn’t exactly be a whole lot of people left in the world.”

“That is true,” Zoe agreed, sipping her drink. “Still, you have to wonder, why can’t the pregnancy and labour parts be as much fun as the making the baby part?” she asked, blushing just a little when she realised quite what she had said.

“’Cause nothin’ in life worth having ever came easy, doc,” Wade reminded her. “Come on now, look at you and me. Now we had so many ups and downs, a whole barrel load of trouble each and every time we tried to make it work, but we got there in the end and now we couldn’t be happier.”

“That’s true,” Zoe smiled at him. “I guess sometimes it’s worth the bad times to get to the good times.”

“Exactly, and you’ll feel just the same when you’re in Wanda’s shoes too, I’ll bet.”

Somebody called for his attention then and Wade went to serve more drinks, leaving Zoe staring after him with wide eyes and a slack jaw. She really had not expected Wade to even consider the concept of her getting pregnant, presumably by him. Having kids, it was something that crossed her mind now and then, but it was one of those way, way in the future things. Of course, it had occurred to Zoe that, at her age, there probably wasn’t a whole lot of ‘way, way into the future’ left for her to have a baby in. She turned thirty-three this month, her biological clock was ticking so loud they could probably hear it all the way to New York actually. Still, it was more than a little surprising to know that the same thought might have occurred to Wade.

Zoe barely noticed him returning to her as she downed the rest of her wine in one hit.

“Wow, thirsty girl,” he said, the smile from his own joke fading in an instant. “Zoe?”

“What?” she asked, shaking her head. “I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Wade nodded, reaching for the wine bottle to refill her glass. “You wanna tell your face that? ‘Cause you suddenly look a little-”

“Are you telling me you want us to have a baby?”

Zoe hadn’t meant to ask him like that, to just blurt it out in the middle of the Rammer Jammer where anyone could hear. She was going to wait until later when they were alone to broach the subject of such serious future plans, but now it was out there and there was no taking it back.

“Okay then,” he said awkwardly, realising that had the the attention of more than a few patrons of the bar and dining area both. “Come on, let’s go to my office.”

Zoe nodded, picked up her drink, and followed him through to the back. Wade let her into the office, closing the door behind them both. He was running a hand over his face as he turned to look at her, not exactly projecting happiness.

“I’m sorry,” she said, with a sigh. “I didn’t mean to just... It’s just that we were talking about Wanda and about pregnancy in general and then suddenly you’re all, ‘You’ll feel the same one day.’” Zoe stopped and shook her head. “I just never realised that you thought about that stuff, you know, the future and babies and-”

“Come on, Zoe, of course I think about the future. Who doesn’t? I mean, don’t you?” Wade asked her in earnest.

“Sometimes, yeah,” she admitted, sitting down on the edge of the desk. “But I never really thought about it that way, you know, you and me having a baby or anything, at least, not recently. We just got back together, Wade. It’s only been a few months and yes, it’s going really well, but because we’ve been taking it slow and doing it right.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Wade agreed, coming to sit next to her, “and the natural progression from where we’re at is that I figure, someday, we’ll get that happily ever after that everybody’s always looking for.”

“But life isn’t a fairytale, Wade,” Zoe reminded him, leaping up almost the moment he sat down, pacing up and down the short space of his office while he watched her. “People change and happiness fades and bad things happen,” she told him what he doubtless already knew, but Zoe had started spiralling and there was no way to stop. “I mean, there’s no way we could just leap into marriage and kids. For starters, I don’t even really believe in marriage, and a baby is-”

“Woah, hold up a second,” said Wade, reaching for her arm as she made her next pass and gently pulling her to a halt. “You don’t believe in marriage?” he checked, looking utterly baffled by the concept. “Since when?”

“Since forever,” Zoe countered, meeting his eyes. “Wade, come on, how many happy marriages have you seen in your life? My mom and Ethan completely failed at marriage. AB’s husband cheated on her and left her. Poor Brick is still suffering from what Alice did to him. George and Lemon couldn’t even make it down the aisle, and I know you guys managed to save Lavon’s parents from divorce, but things still got really bad, and-”

“My momma and Earl.”

Zoe stopped very suddenly when she heard what Wade had said and, moreover, when she saw the look on his face after saying it.

“Wade...” she began, but he shook his head, standing up to face her head on.

“Now you asked me how many happy marriages I have seen in my life,” he reminded her. “Maybe not so many, that is true, but nobody coulda been happier than my parents when I was a kid,” he explained. “Old Earl, he doted on Momma, reckoned the sun shined because of her, and she would say how he was her hero, how she never could love anyone as much, ‘cept maybe for me and my brother, I guess. Now, she had to go away, she didn’t have a choice on that, but I do believe, doc, that if my momma was still alive, she and Dad would still be together and just as happy as they ever was. You wanna try and tell me I’m wrong?”

As much as Zoe knew there were no guarantees that even if Jacqueline had lived, she and Earl would’ve made it, there was no way she was about to tell Wade that. He had to know already that it could’ve gone either way, since predicting an alternate life was as impossible as predicting the future. Still, she took his point. It was possible to have a happy marriage. Some people managed it, even if the odds seemed to be stacked against them, and of course, Zoe would love to believe she and Wade could be so lucky as to count in the few who made it, but it scared her to think about it, it really did.

“Wade, I didn’t mean... I’m not saying no marriage ever worked or that every marriage is doomed to be unhappy or fall apart,” she said, gazing up at him. “It’s just... I’ve seen too many go wrong, too many people hurt and wishing they’d never taken that step. I cannot stand the idea of that happening to us, not after everything. We’re happy right now, isn’t that what counts?”

He looked down at her with such an odd expression on his face, Zoe really didn’t know what he was going to say. She wanted him to tell her that he agreed, or at least that he understood, and yet, somehow, he looked more like he was ready to cry. She could put that down to talk of his mother, maybe, but there was a niggling feeling in the pit of Zoe’s stomach that told her it was a lot more than that.

“I guess I should get back to work,” he said, planting a quick kiss on her forehead and then heading for the door.

Zoe turned and watched him go, calling to him even though she was already pretty sure he wasn’t going to stop. Leaving her wine glass on the desk, she gave chase, determined that this talk wasn’t over, not like that. Unfortunately, by the time she got back out to the bar, Wade was in the middle of serving Tansy and George, the other couple talking animatedly about their rekindled relationship.

“If we’re startin’ over, it all has to be fresh and new,” Tansy was explaining as Zoe arrived on the scene.

“Which is pretty tough when almost every restaurant you can name in a ten miles radius is someplace that I took Lemon, or McGreevey took Tansy, or we went to together the first time around.”

“But we found a place in the end.” Tansy smiled, albeit the look did not look entirely genuine.

“Wow, I remember that face.” Wade winced at her expression. “Disaster?”

“Pretty much,” said George, with laughter in his voice. “Now, I never actually had Norwegian food before, so I’d got no frame of reference for it,” he went on to explain, “but if that really is how it’s supposed to taste, I am never going to Norway.”

“Me either,” Tansy agreed wholeheartedly. “The only thing worse than the food was the service. That man was so rude! Zoe, if Wade ever offers to take you for Norwegian food in Tuscaloosa, say no,” she advised her firmly.

“Duly noted.” Zoe smiled and yet she was aware the expression probably didn’t come out right.

She glanced at Wade and found he didn’t even seem to want to look at her, focusing instead on George and Tansy as they explained that, despite the crappy restaurant, they still had a great date night. They were so happy, so in love, apparently. Zoe and Wade had been almost as giddy in each other’s company just the day before and yet now she couldn’t even get him to glance her way.

That hurt and yet at the same time she knew it was only because she had hurt him too. It wasn’t intentional, it never would be, but that didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t thrilled after their conversation in his office. Zoe had a feeling that this marriage and kids topic was going to come around again before too long and by that time she was going to have to come up with a better strategy than fight or flight. Otherwise, she and Wade might be doomed to crash and burn just as they had before, and she couldn’t go through that, not again.


	12. Chapter 12

They didn’t talk about it. Maybe that was weird and wrong, but Wade didn’t know where to start and was sure Zoe had no idea either. The fact was if she didn’t believe in marriage then it just wasn’t going to happen. Wade wasn’t even sure what that meant on the topic of kids, but he wasn’t willing to ask, at least, not immediately. 

They sort of carried on as they had been before, him putting on the same front he had so many times in the past when things got tough, smile on his face, spring in his step, quick-wit ever-present.

When Shelby came at him, wanting him to provide drinks for the adult guests at baby Ethel’s birthday party, Wade made himself busy with that, throwing himself into working plenty of shifts at the Rammer Jammer too, an easy task with Wanda out on maternity leave and all.

Zoe said work was tying her up too and Wade would never call her a liar. After all, Brick was distracted with the whole ex-wife rediscovery situation, so Zoe really was needed at the practice a lot and for medical emergencies. Of course, the look on AB’s face when they passed each other in the street once or twice told Wade that Zoe was pulling avoidance tactics on him too and that maybe she had been talking it over with Annabeth also.

“Bourbon, now,” said Lemon as she arrived at the bar, the first customer to come busting through the doors in at least an hour.

Anybody else might have asked her if that was really what she wanted. Wade knew better, pouring the shot and pushing it into Lemon’s waiting hand. She downed it in one, wincing as it burned down her throat, then asking for another. At that, Wade looked uncertain, but then dutifully poured one more time.

“Make the most of that one, you ain’t gettin’ anymore until you tell me what has you in a shot drinkin’ place at this time in the day,” he said definitely, putting the bottle far out of reach.

Lemon finished her drink then took a long steadying breath. She wasn’t crying anymore but Wade would lay good money that she had been not long before. He was also willing to bet this all tied back to Lemon’s mother, and when she began to explain, he realised he would’ve won said bet.

“I went to see her. I didn’t want to exactly but I had to. She had to know that I... She was not gonna get away with what she did to my family!” said Lemon firmly, looking up at Wade.

“Good for you,” he said, nodding his head. “Gave her both barrels, huh?”

“You could say that.” Lemon smiled a little, even as her eyes welled up with further tears. “I never knew I could love someone and hate someone so much all at the same time,” she admitted, voice cracking terribly before she hardly got the words out.

Wade did hate to see a woman cry, especially one he cared so much about. Rounding the end of bar, he came around to where Lemon sat shaking on the stool and pulled her into a hug. Lemon clung on for a little while, crying it out as much as she needed to, then pulling away fast, swiping at her eyes.

“I’m done,” she declared. “I swear, I will not cry one more tear over that woman. She doesn’t deserve it.”

Wade didn’t have anything to say to that so he kept his mouth shut, just grabbed some paper napkins from the bar and handed them to Lemon so she could finish cleaning up her face.

“Well, I guess you don’t need her anymore anyhow,” he said, biting back a smirk, “now you got your new step-momma and all.”

Lemon’s eyes widened and then she realised he was teasing her. She reached out to smack him across the shoulder, but she was laughing when she did it, and that was all Wade had really been going for.

“My daddy hasn’t married Shelby yet,” she reminded him before releasing a sigh, “but I guess if he ever does, even she couldn’t be worse than his first wife. Ugh, why is life never simple anymore?”

“I’m not so sure it ever was,” Wade told her, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sure as hell never has run smooth for me.”

“Until now,” Lemon pointed out. “I mean, you and the great Dr Hart, you seem to have found your happily ever after ending this time around. It’s so sweet it’s nauseatin’ seeing you two all over each other all of the time.”  
“Yeah, ‘cause you and Lavon ain’t just as bad,” he countered lamely. “’Course, you mighta noticed that me and Zoe ain’t exactly been quite so ‘in love’ lately.”

Lemon frowned at him then. “I’m ashamed to say I probably haven’t been payin’ all that much attention this last while. You’re not havin’ problems again, are you? Wade, what did you do?”

“Oh, what did I do?” he asked, scoffing at her accusation. “I will have you know the worst thing I did was say I wanted a future with the woman I love,” he explained. “Second I started talking marriage and kids, Zoe was practically running all the way back to her fine city just to get away from me,” he said, ending much more quietly than he had begun.

It was so stupid phrasing it that way and he knew it. Lemon knew it too and told him as much, as he suspected she would.

“Wade, while I do believe that Zoe may have had some negative reaction to your particular choice in future plans, she would not go back to New York again,” she said definitely, her hand on his knee to get him to look at her. “She loves you, I know that she does, and she has built such a life here. New York City is not where Zoe Hart belongs anymore. Much as it pains me to say it, she’s one of us now, and she belongs with you as much as anybody ever belonged with anyone. That is a fact, not up for debate,” she said definitely.

“What? It’s a fact because the great Lemon Breeland says so?” Wade checked.

“You know it,” she countered, smirking hard. “Come on, Wade, you don’t really believe that Zoe wants to leave you. You probably just scared her is all. You know marriage is a big step to take, and with all the examples she has seen of marriages and families falling apart?”

She didn’t need to say any more because they both knew that Wade understood, saw exactly what point Lemon was making, the same one Zoe had tried to make days before. Maybe he had just scared her. Maybe it was understandable that she was worried about jumping in to something too serious, too fast.

“Now, excuse me,” said Lemon hopping down from her stool, “but I am supposed to be helping with the set-up for my one-year-old future step-sister’s birthday party,” she declared, straightening her back and tilting her chin before she headed for the door.

Wade didn’t even look up as she swept by him, at least not until she called his name, making him turn to the door to see her standing there.

“Thank you,” she told him sincerely, “for always bein’ a friend.”

“Anytime, Lemon,” he promised her, meaning every word.

* * *

“Okay, all done,” said Zoe, closing up the patient file and handing it to AB.

Annabeth pushed it back into the file cabinet and closed the drawer with a thud.

“So, party time?” she checked.

“Sure.” Zoe forced a smile, knowing AB friend wasn’t buying it from the expression on her own face then.

“You still didn’t talk things out with Wade, did you?” she said, shaking her head. “Zoe Hart, you told me just yesterday...”

“I know, I know!” Zoe complained, covering her face with both hands. “I meant to do it. I wanted to, I did, but it’s not easy. How do you tell the guy you love that you don’t want to marry him, without him thinking you don’t actually love him anymore?”

“I admit, that is a brainteaser,” AB agreed. “But honestly? I’m still struggling with why you don’t wanna marry him if you love him all that much?”

Zoe opened her mouth to explain and found she had no way to do it. What Wade said about them getting married and having kids one day, it did make sense, and there was a part of Zoe that just wanted to go ahead and jump into a picture-perfect future like that. Still, something held her back and she knew that something was mostly fear.

She was so afraid of ending up like her own parents, or Lemon’s parents, or any other couple that had gone through a nasty break-up. She feared hurting Wade, hurting any children they might bring into the world, and getting hurt herself. Of course, she and Wade ought to have talked it all through in a calm and rational manner, but they hadn’t. Zoe just didn’t know where to begin.

“Zoe, honey,” said AB then, rounding the reception desk and putting her hands to her shoulders. “I know it is not easy, but it’s like you told me about my fear of flying, sometimes you just gotta face these things head on. Besides, when the thing you really want is on the other side of your fear, isn’t it worth conquering it any way you can?”

“I guess so,” Zoe agreed, looking at her friend with a smile. “You still feel okay about your trip to visit Joel this weekend?”

“Yes and no,” AB considered, shrugging her shoulders. “I can’t wait to see him and it is kind of exciting to know I’ll get to see New York at last too. I have my worries still with the flying and the big city and all those fancy people my Joel knows, but I can get through it. With all the help you gave me, I have faith in myself. I am stronger than the fear!” she said just a little too loudly with a triumphant fist raised in the air.

Zoe winced a little and backed up a step. “Okay, then,” she said, laughing just a little then. “I guess if you can face your fears then I should face mine too. I know for sure that I can’t let this thing with Wade drag out any longer. It’s not good for either of us.”

“What’s dragging out with you and Wade?” asked Rose as she wandered into the practice with Scarlett Kincaid on her heels. “You two are okay, right?” she checked with Zoe. “Because in six months, I plan to go off to college, and I don’t want to do that having to worry that you’re back here having another awful break-up with Wade.”

“We’re... We’ll be fine,” her friend promised her. “Hey, Scarlett,” she greeted the younger girl who waved ‘hello’ with the arm that wasn’t in a cast.

“Rose has been showing me around town,” she explained, “and now there’s some kind of big party going on out there. It all looks like so much fun.”

“Ah, that will be Ethel Sinclair’s first birthday bash.” AB nodded. “I swear she has more going on for her first than I had for my twenty-first.”

“Well then, let’s get out there before we miss all the fun!” Zoe declared, wearing that same fake smile again.

She knew she was doing a bad job of looking cheerful when Rose called her on it too.

“Nobody’s buying that smile, by the way,” she said as they headed outside. “You did fight with Wade, didn’t you?”

Zoe sighed. “A little, maybe, but I swear it will be fine. Promise. Scouts honour.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “You two are more convoluted than most soap opera couples,” she declared as they continued walking. “Just make sure you do get the happy ending this time, okay?”

Zoe’s eyes widened at her choice of expression but she covered it fast with a smile that she didn’t need to fake quite so much. “I’m sure we can manage that.”

* * *

“Sorry, I was just... Zoe.” 

Wade wasn’t sure why he was so stunned to see her. The whole damn town seemed to have been invited to Ethel’s party and that had to include the good doctor. Of course, he hadn’t known he was going to run into her quite so literally.

“Hey,” she said, pushing her hair back into place as she looked up at him. “Haven’t seen much of you lately.”

“Same here,” he replied, nodding his head. “Guess we both got kinda busy.”

“Guess so.”

There were a few moments of awful, awkward silence before they both managed to speak over each other.

“Zoe, I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry about before.”

They laughed when they realised what they had done and then went right back to looking awkward and uncomfortable. Talking really never been their strong suit in this relationship, but this go around they had been trying that bit harder, at least until the last few days.

“Look, Wade, I meant what I said, I really am sorry about the way I reacted the other day,” Zoe said eventually, wringing her hands. “You just caught me off-guard and... and I can’t help the fact that thinking too much about the future still scares me. I’m trying to let the fear go, I really am, and I need you to know it has nothing to do with my feelings for you. I do love you and I completely trust you. I would hate for you to think those things weren’t true.”

Wade shook his head. “I believe you,” he promised. “And you know that me loving and trusting you ain’t a problem either. I guess we just got very different ideas about what the future’s gonna be is all.”

“I guess.” Zoe nodded. “But that doesn’t have to be a big deal right now, does it?” she said hopefully. “I do know that I want to be with you, Wade. That part is very clear to me,” she continued, stepping in closer. “Nobody knows what the future will be, but the last thing I want to do is fight about it. And I’m not saying I _never_ want kids, and maybe one day I’ll even want marriage,” she admitted. “It’s just maybe too soon to be talking about it right now, okay?”

She looked up and met his eyes, so vulnerable in that moment that Wade could hardly stand it. He didn’t want her to be scared about anything, but just telling her she didn’t have to be wasn’t going to fix it. Wade was well aware of how badly he screwed up in the past and he knew that Zoe would freely admit she did much the same. She was right, nobody could know the future and fighting over what it might be really was pretty dumb.

“So, you’re not sayin’ never to... all that?” he said pointedly.

“Not saying never,” Zoe promised, biting her lip.

“Okay then.” Wade nodded then. “I can handle that,” he admitted, putting his arms around her as her own slid up around his neck. “I have missed you, doc.”

“Good, because I’ve missed you too,” she replied with a smile.

He leaned down to kiss her then and she went up on her toes to meet him. They were lost in a really good moment of happy reconciliation, at least for a minute or two, until suddenly a commotion broke them apart.

“What do you mean?” a young voice yelled, clearly in distress. “How do you even know my mother?”

Wade followed Zoe’s gaze as her head turned towards the sound and saw a little girl with her arm in a cast yelling up into the face of one Lemon Breeland.

Zoe gasped. “Oh, crap!”


	13. Chapter 13

“I am officially exhausted,” said Zoe sitting down heavily on the end of her bed. “The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy!”

“There has been a lot goin’ on,” Wade agreed, sitting down beside her and running a hand over his face. “I seriously thought we were not gonna pull off that surprise party for Brick.”

“It might’ve been easier if any of us had even remembered it was his birthday in the first place,” Zoe noted, leaning into his side. “I guess between Ethel’s birthday and Scarlett finding out Lemon and Magnolia were her sisters...”

“And then Tom and Wanda having their baby and the town goin’ nuts over the kid,” Wade added on for her.

“Exhausted!” Zoe repeated her head landing heavily on Wade’s shoulder.

He laughed at her dramatics, wrapping an arm around her back as he kissed the top of her head. Before she had a chance to react, he threw himself back on her bed, taking her down with him and there they lay together, laughing like kids and staring up at the ceiling.

“I’m thinkin’ maybe Wanda is feeling the exhaustion just a little bit more than you, doc,” Wade told her then.

“I guess so,” she agreed, happily curling into his side. “When I first met Wanda, I don’t think I could ever have imagined her as a mom. I sure as heck could not have pictured Tom Long as a father either, but they look so cute together. Happy little family like something out of a kids picture book.”

“Just works out for some folks, I guess,” Wade agreed.

Zoe looked over at him, but his eyes were fixed on the ceiling yet. The two of them had left the subject of their own future well alone since agreeing it was the best thing for right now. Zoe told Wade she hadn’t entirely ruled out kids or even marriage and he respected that she wasn’t ready to discuss it further right now. The strange thing was that ever since that deal had been struck, Zoe had found her mind wandering more and more into what their future might be.

Maybe it was just the circumstances of all of those around her. The Breeland girls getting to know their half-sister, Tom and Wanda expanding their family with little Froda, AB returning from her visit to New York so full of joy and happiness, and overflowing with love for Joel. Everybody was getting into happily ever after territory one way or another, including Lemon and Lavon, and George and Tansy too. Zoe was so very happy with Wade, she couldn’t even verbalise it if she wanted to. It was starting to make her wonder why she was so quick to apply the brakes when he started hoping for marriage and kids.

“What are you starin’ at, doc?” he asked her then, turning his head to look at her.

Zoe smiled up at him. “The best guy in the world,” she told him seriously. “You know I love you, right?”

“Sure.” Wade nodded once, though he looked a little uncertain somehow. “You about to confess somethin’, Zoe? ‘Cause you got a really weird look on your face right now.”

“No confessions,” Zoe assured him. “Except for the one I just made and hey, you knew that already so, I’m done,” she said, shrugging her shoulders against the mattress.

He was clearly expected something else and Zoe wondered at how Wade could know her so well. Maybe after more than three years, as close they’d gotten, he ought to be able to tell when she was keeping something back, and maybe Zoe should’ve learnt not to do it, but right now, she just didn’t have the words to explain herself. It was why she just pushed herself closer and put her lips to Wade’s own.

One sweet kiss became two and three, then sweet turned into something hotter and deeper, until they were practically on top of each other.

“Hey, I thought you were just so exhausted,” said Wade, pulling back a little with a smirk on his lips.

“I could probably rally, for you,” she said, grinning at him.

“Oh, yeah?” Wade laughed, rolling her onto her back.

“Oh, yeah,” Zoe agreed right before he kissed her again.

* * *

“It makes me wonder why I was ever so afraid of anything!” Annabeth enthused, showing off the pictures from her trip to New York to one more patient in the waiting area. “I mean, yes, the takin’ off part on the plane was not fun, and I’m not a huge fun of the landing part either, but I used these breathing exercises that I learned for when I’m feelin’ anxious and I got right through it.”

“Aww, look at the two of you.” Shula grinned at what had to be a photograph of AB and Joel. “You are just the cutest couple.”

“Thank you.” AB smiled so wide, Zoe half expected her face to split in two, especially since she had been wearing that same expression almost every moment since she got back from New York two weeks ago.

“I am amazed you found anyone left in town who didn’t see your pictures and hear your ‘My Weekend in New York’ speech already,” she said to her friend as AB returned to her spot behind the reception desk.

“Well, it is gettin’ harder, but Shula was away visitin’ her cousins these past two weeks so she hadn’t heard anything beyond what Dash posted in the blog.”

“Right, and of course, she needed the full story.” Zoe nodded, trying to keep her own smile down to a dull roar as she teased her friend.

AB soon realised and blushed terrubly. “Oh my Lord, am I drivin’ everybody crazy?” she checked. “I am, aren’t I?”

“No, you’re not, I promise,” Zoe assured her, patting her hand. “Actually, I think it’s adorable. You and Joel, it’s obvious you’re just so in love. Honestly, it makes me wonder how he and I even lasted as long as we did. I was absolutely not the right person for him and, as much as I love him, Joel could never be the guy for me either.”

“Well, I for one am very glad you brought him here like you did,” said AB definitely. “Else I would never have met him and been this happy. Thank you for bringin’ that wonderful man into my life, Zoe Hart.”

“You’re entirely welcome, Annabeth,” said Zoe, smiling as they hugged each other. “So, I assume there will be more trips to New York before too much longer? Or is Joel actually going to visit you next?”

AB opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it again, turning towards the file cabinet and making a big deal of shuffling things around.

“It’s all a little up in the air right now,” she said, her head mostly in the drawer.

“Okay.” Zoe frowned. “Um, AB? Things with you and Joel are okay, right?” she checked. “I mean, you’re telling everybody how happy you are, showing off your pictures, thanking me for bringing Joel into your life, and then... Oh God,” she suddenly gasped and AB turned to look at her again. “This isn’t...? I mean, when Jake left you just... AB, please tell me this isn’t all a happy facade when actually-”

“Oh no!” she said fast. “No, no, I’m not covering for anything like that. Me and Joel are so solid, definitely happy together. Zoe, I promise you, that’s not it.”

“Okay.” Zoe sighed. “Wow, that is a relief, and so good to hear,” she said, leaning heavily on the desk. “So, you are happy, but no plans to see each other again? I mean, you were so into this whole flying thing now, you loved New York, you got along with the people you met, Joel’s family and everything.”

“It is all good news, Zoe,” AB agreed. “It’s all really, really good news,” she said with a strange kind of emphasis that soon had her friend wondering.

“No!” she gasped, eyes wide with surprise. “AB are you...?”

“I think so,” she said, nodding madly. “I actually was hopin’ you could maybe fit me in for an appointment this afternoon, I was just gonna put my name in the book without sayin’ anything, but since there’s nobody to hear right now and you already kinda guessed anyway, I don’t suppose there’s any point in keeping it quiet anymore. The truth is, I think I’m pregnant.”

Zoe wasn’t sure if she was laughing or crying, and was absolutely certain that AB was doing both as they hugged each other then, practically bouncing up and down with the joy of it all. If anyone knew how much Annabeth longed to be a mother, it was Zoe, and now finally it seemed it might be happening for her. It was so wonderful.

“I know I have to have the proper test and all,” said AB as they parted, “and working out how things go forward with me and Joel currently living at least a thousand and more miles apart is gonna be more than a little tricky, but I can’t tell you how happy I am right now.”

“And I am happy for you, AB, I truly am,” Zoe promised. “You are absolutely getting an appointment today. I’d say right now, but...”

Before she could even finish the sentence, the door opened and Cody came wandering in, looking pale.

“But you have other people to see,” said AB knowingly, handing the file to Zoe.

“Put your name in for later,” her friend told her, finger tapping on the computer. “Priority patient, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.” AB nodded, smiling yet as she did as she was told.

Zoe was sure she was grinning just as much as her friend, even as she went into the exam room, taking poor Cody with her. She could not be happier for Annabeth, or Joel for that matter, but there was a pang in Zoe’s heart too. Of course, now was not the time to be dwelling on it, she had work to do.

* * *

“I’ll go get those drinks,” said George, moving to get up from the table, but Tansy’s hand on his arm pulled him to a halt.

“That’s okay, honey. I got ‘em,” she insisted, forcing him back into his seat and practically running to the bar before he could argue with her. “Wade, another round for the table,” said Tansy, smiling as best she could, “and a shot of tequila,” she added in a whisper that nobody but he was supposed to hear.

“Goin’ that good, huh, Tans?” he said, biting his lip as he got her the shot she asked for and placed it on the bar.

“Goin’ just great,” she said, fake smile still firmly in place as she toasted him with her tequila and downed it with a shudder. “I don’t know what part of this visit from the Tuckers I like best,” she said then, watching Wade put together the drinks order. “Maybe it was when George’s parents walked into his office and I had my shirt off,” she considered. “Maybe it’s just all those great comments Mrs Tucker makes every time I mention somethin’ about my life or my career.”

“Okay, first off, I guarantee that Harold at least would not be mindin’ the sight of you without your shirt,” said Wade with a wicked grin. “And what comments is Clora makin’ that’s puttin’ your back up so easy?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe how everything I do is just so ‘quaint’ and ‘cute’ and how me and George being together is so nice ‘for now,’” she said with a look. “I swear to God, Wade, if she had not given life to the man I love, I would just knock her head right off her body!”

Wade was trying so hard not to laugh, but it did not come easy. He knew Tucker’s parents of old and they were judgemental as anybody he ever met. He knew for sure they didn’t much care for him, especially when he and George were buddies in school and all. Anybody named Kinsella was a bad influence as far as they were concerned, but that never bothered Wade or George any.

“Listen, Tans, don’t let the Tuckers grind you down, okay?” he said, putting the four drinks together on a tray for her to carry back to the table. “Maybe folks like you and me ain’t as rich as them or brought up as high and mighty, but that don’t mean they’re better than us. ‘Sides, if they don’t see how great you are then screw them. George Tucker knows what he has and he appreciates you. That is what matters.”

Tansy grinned at him then. “Wade Kinsella, why couldn’t you be this way when we was married?” she asked, shaking her head.

Before he could give her any kind of answer, both his attention and Tansy’s own was taken by Zoe Hart coming in the front door of the Rammer Jammer, waving when she saw them both.

“Never mind,” said Tansy, smiling yet. “I already know the answer. Pretty sure your next marriage’ll run a whole lot smoother,” she said, sending a wink Wade’s way before taking a deep breath and heading back to the table full of Tuckers.

Zoe took her place at the bar, frowning a little as she hopped up on the stool.

“Why does she look like she’s going to face a firing squad?” she asked of Tansy, turning to follow Wade’s pointer finger to the corner table where George and his parents sat waiting. “Huh. Yeah, now I get it,” she said, looking back at Wade. “Poor Tansy.”

“She’ll be just fine,” Wade promised. “Never have seen George Tucker so dedicated to a woman since... well, I was gonna say Lemon, but honestly, even then I don’t think he was this far gone, at least not since we was kids anyway.”

“You know, I never really saw things working out with him and Tansy, not the first time around or this time around, but it really is.” Zoe sighed happily. “Everybody’s so happy, so in love. It’s kind of beautiful actually.”

“Not gonna argue with that, doc,” Wade agreed, pouring her a glass of wine and pushing it across the bar into her hand. “’Course, it’s not the only thing around here that is beautiful.”

“Wow, wine and a compliment. You’re the best bartender ever,” she said, reaching up to kiss him.

“Hey, come on now, that is bar _owner_, thank you very much,” he reminded her with a look.

“You certainly have come a long way.”

“I think we’ve both come a pretty long way, doc,” Wade told her, his smile fading a little when he saw the strange expression on her face. “There’s that look again,” he noted, tilting his head as he stared at her a moment. “What is goin’ on with you, Zoe? I mean, last night, and now again today, you just... There is somethin’ going on, isn’t there?”

“No,” she told him, shaking her head, eyes in her wine glass in the very next moment. “It’s nothing, I’m just... thoughtful, I guess. Also, grateful, for what I have. For _who_ I have,” she told him, smiling wide. “I’m just happy, Wade. I swear, you just make me happy.”

He nodded like he understood and smiled like he meant it, but as he went to serve the other customers waiting on their drinks, Wade couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on that he wasn’t quite getting. It gave him an uncomfortableness that he didn’t much care for, despite Zoe’s reassuring words and smile. He only hoped that feeling went away, sooner rather than later.


	14. Chapter 14

“Lemon, I have to say this is one of the best ideas you have ever, ever had,” said Zoe, leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed, feeling completely relaxed.

“Amen to that,” Annabeth agreed from the next chair over. “I can’t remember the last time I had a nice relaxin’ spa day and Lord knows I need it.”

“We all do,” Lemon reminded them with a sigh. “Life for a Bluebell woman can be awfully stressful. As much as I appreciate the men in our lives, a break from their company every now and then is never a bad thing.”

“Especially when you’ve been puttin’ up with their parents for more than a week,” Tansy huffed. “I swear, I don’t know how all the Tuckers and me came outta that situation alive.”

“Come back and talk to me again when you’ve spent _fifteen years_ under the death glare of Clora Tucker,” said Lemon, squinting at Tansy through one eye. “She is one formidable opponent, that is for sure.”

“I guess I got lucky with the mother in law types,” AB considered. “Jake’s momma thought the sun shone outta me, even after the divorce, and Joel’s parents could not have been kinder when I went visitin’ with them.”

“Well, we should all be so lucky as you, Annabeth.” Lemon sighed. “I still haven’t officially met Lavon’s parents, not in my capacity as the lady in his life.”

“Come on, Lemon, they’re going to love you,” Zoe insisted, “because Lavon loves you and that’s what really matters.”

“Easy for you to say,” Tansy pointed out. “The only family Wade has is Earl, and that old man already loves you like a daughter.”

Zoe knew she couldn’t argue with that. Earl had pretty much made her part of the family before she and Wade were even official. It was nice, especially since she didn’t have a father of her own anymore, with Harley gone and Ethan out of the picture. Actually, the more Zoe thought about it, the more she realised just how much of a family she had really built in Bluebell over time. She had a brother in Lavon, a sister in Rose, two father figures in Brick and Earl. Sitting up a little in her plush leather seat, she glanced at the women either side of her and realised she actually had more sisters than she could ever have imagined at this point too.

“Zoe Hart, why are you grinning at all of us like a fool?” asked Lemon then, her eyes popping open to stare at Zoe, as AB and Tansy followed suit.

“No reason,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Just... happy,” she said, lying back down and closing her eyes once again.

Maybe she did have more reasons than that for all the smiling but Lemon didn’t need to hear them right in that moment. In fact, the person Zoe most wanted to talk to about things was Tansy, and it was a few hours later that she finally got her chance. Lemon had gone down to the pool while AB got a head massage, leaving Zoe and Tansy alone to their mani-pedis. Still, every time Zoe tried to start a conversation, she seemed to paint herself into corners and never get to the point. If it was frustrating for her, then it appeared it was doubly so for Tansy.

“Look, you clearly have somethin’ on your mind that you wanna say to me, so I wish to all Heaven you would just come out with it already,” she told her crossly. “You’re kinda drivin’ me crazy right now and I came along here this weekend to relax.”

“I’m sorry.” Zoe shook her head. “You’re right, there is something. I just... Well, we haven’t always gotten along so well, Tansy, and I’m sorry about that.”

Tansy narrowed her eyes as she stared at Zoe yet, as if she was trying to figure out what her angle was but couldn’t quite get to the truth. Zoe pressed on regardless.

“See, I get it. I understand that, at first, you had a problem with Wade liking me, especially when I wasn’t really treating him very well, and then, when we finally were together, there was that whole thing between me and George...”

“Trust me, I remember,” said Tansy, tone cold enough to make Zoe physically shiver.

“Anyway, that is all very over now. George and I are clearly not meant to be anything more than friends and you two are just so good together. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen him happier,” she admitted with a smile.

“And that’s what you wanted to tell me?” asked Tansy, frowning still.

“Yes and no.” Zoe shrugged. “The point is that I’m happy too. I never thought I could ever be as happy as I am with Wade right now and... and as crazy as it sounds, I sort of feel like, with you being his first wife, that I should almost... well, not ask permission exactly, but I feel like you should be the first one to know about it.”

“About what?” asked Tansy. “Zoe, would you please just spit it out, whatever it is?”

“I wanna ask Wade to marry me,” she said all in a rush, eyes closed until the confession was complete.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again, peeking across at Tansy whose mouth had dropped open so wide, she looked more than a little silly. Then, suddenly, she laughed.

“Well, that has to be the best news I heard in a real long time.”

“Really?” Zoe checked. “You’re not just saying that?”

“Why would I?” Tansy shrugged. “Zoe, you know as well as I do that Wade Kinsella has been in love with you from the first minute he laid eyes on you. I never thought that could happen to him, it sure as hell never happened when he first saw me, or any time after,” she said, glancing away. “I’m not bitter about that, not anymore. I was, for a real long time,” she admitted, “but now I have George Tucker and... and I guess that’s just the way it was always supposed to work out.”

“I guess so.” Zoe nodded. “So, you think it’s okay that I wanna propose to Wade?”

“I think he’ll just about burst with joy when you do.” Tansy chuckled. “He loves you, Zoe, I mean, he _really_ loves you, and you obviously love him too, so I wish you both every happiness in the world.”

“Thank you, Tansy,” said replied, hand gripping her arm. “That actually means a lot to me. I hope one day, you and George...”

“Yeah, me too.” Tansy nodded. “Of course, I don’t know how I’ll ever learn to deal with his parents if we did make it the whole way to the alter and beyond, but I think I wouldn’t mind tryin’ to find out.”

Zoe laughed at the way she said it and the expression on her face too. Quite honestly, she hoped George and Tansy made it, as well as Lemon and Lavon, and Joel and AB. So far, so good.

* * *

“Now this is a sad and sorry state of affairs,” said Lavon, looking to George on his left and Wade on the other side of the bar. “I thought we were supposed to be celebratin’ the freedom of a women-free weekend.”

George sighed heavily. “Seemed like it was going to be fun.”

“Yeah,” Wade agreed. “Apparently, we were wrong about that.”

“Apparently,” Lavon echoed, staring down into his drink. “When did we get so hen-pecked that we don’t know how to have any fun without our girlfriends?”

“Since we all fell in love with the most incredible women in town?” suggested Wade.

“That’ll be it.” George nodded, downing the last of his beer. “But come on, guys, is it so bad? I mean, would you really wanna go back to how we were before, sad and lonely?” he said, looking to Lavon. “Chasin’ just about anythin’ in a skirt for the chance of a little happiness for one night at a time?” he said to Wade. “Sure, we miss the girls right now, but we got our whole lives ahead of us to spend with them if we want to. That is no bad thing.”

“Tucker has a point,” Wade agreed, refilling all their glasses. “Alright now, here is to Zoe, Lemon, Tansy, and I’ll say Annabeth besides. The three of us, plus my good buddy Joel, we caught us the best women there is to be had, and this time, we’re holdin’ onto ‘em too. That’s not something to mope about, it’s somethin’ to be damn proud of.”

“Yes, sir, it is,” George agreed.

“I will drink to that.” Lavon nodded, as they all raised their glasses in a toast and then drank. “’Course, doesn’t change the fact that I just miss Lemon.”

“Yeah, I feel the same about Tansy.” George sighed.

Wade opened his mouth to tell them they were being pathetic, but he just couldn’t do it. He missed Zoe too, more than he ever thought possible, given the fact she had only been gone a day so far. Maybe they all were just hen-pecked and ridiculous, but hell if it wasn’t worth it in the end.

* * *

“Hey, dreamer,” said AB, coming across Zoe on the balcony looking up at the stars. “You doin’ okay?”

“I’m fine.” Zoe smiled as her friend came to lean on the rail beside her. “Actually, I’m great, but more importantly, how are you?” she said, with a significant look.

Annabeth grinned big. “I am great and then some,” she admitted happily. “It is tough keeping the whole you-know-what situation a secret, especially from Lemon, but I know it’s best to hold off until twelve weeks. I’m just so excited,” she said, voice almost going so high that only dogs would hear her.

Zoe giggled, she couldn’t help it. “Well, I am so happy for you and I know everyone else will be when they get to hear too. At least you got to tell Joel, and in person too.”

“Yeah, that was pretty special.” AB grinned all the more. “It was a miracle that he could get away even for a day. I swear that entire train ride to the hotel, I was shaking with the excitement of it all. I mean, he was shocked when I told him. After all, we didn’t plan it or anything. Of course, when we got carried away after the Valentine’s Day dance, the thought did cross my mind... Hey, now that I think about it, I guess I kind of have you to thank for this,” she said, her hand at her stomach that of course showed no sign of pregnancy yet.

“Me?” Zoe checked.

“You got Joel down here for the party,” AB reminded her. “If he was never here, this would never have happened.”

“Oh, I think it would’ve happened,” said Zoe knowingly. “Obviously, not on the exact night that it did, but eventually. You were always supposed to be somebody’s mom, AB, I’ve always been sure of that. I actually love that Joel gets to be a dad too. I think it’s going to work out so well for the two of you. Sorry, the _three_ of you,” she said, smiling widely.

“And what about Zoe?” her friend asked, bumping her shoulder against Zoe’s own. “Any such plans on the horizon for you? Little doctors or little bartenders runnin’ around the place?”

“Maybe, someday.” Zoe chuckled. “Not right now, but yeah, I guess that might be nice. One thing is for sure, I’ll bet the guys aren’t standing around pining for us like we are for them. I mean, can you imagine?”

AB looked thoughtful then nodded her head. “Yes, actually I can. I think Wade is completely lost without you these days, and personally, I’d like to think Joel is much the same without me. You know, when I told him about the baby, he was so surprised but then so happy. I thought it was going to be tough, figuring out where we were goin’ to live and all, but right away, he started makin’ plans for settlin’ in Bluebell. He said he couldn’t think of a better place to raise a child.”

“I don’t think I can argue with that,” said Zoe thoughtfully. “As crazy as some of the people are and as much as I really did not fit in when I first arrived, I don’t think I could imagine wanting to live anywhere else now.”

“Me either,” said AB, threading her arm around her friend’s own, the both of them looking up at the star-studded sky and contemplating each of their very happy-looking futures.


	15. Chapter 15

Zoe almost screamed when she got up from digging around in the cabinet under the sink and found herself face to face with Lavon. She hadn’t thought anyone was hanging around the plantation right at that moment, it was why she was there, doing what she was doing. Of course, now that she looked at him, with what appeared to be a bag of rose petals in his hand, she wondered what exactly Lavon was up to himself.

“What are you doing?” they asked each other, in almost perfect unison.

“Nothing,” came the reply, also in stereo.

“Okay, well, you’re doin’ nothin’ and I’m doin’ nothin’,” said Lavon, nodding his head. “No more to be said then.”

“Not a thing,” Zoe agreed with a wave of her hand as if to dismiss the whole conversation.

“Alright, well, I’d take it as a kindness if you weren’t in the house later on. I’ll be goin’ to pick up Lemon from the Rammer Jammer in a half hour and then... well, we got plans.”

“That’s fine with me.” Zoe nodded. “My plans are... somewhere else,” she said vaguely.

With her supplies clutched to her chest, she then ran out of the back door, stopping the moment she was around the corner to check she had everything. She really did think she had bought enough candles at the store, but she just needed a few more and was sure there were some hidden in Lavon’s kitchen. Now she was set and nothing could stop her. After all, whatever romantic gesture Lavon was planning for Lemon seemed to be based in the house and Zoe’s own plan required herself and Wade to be outdoors, at least initially, then they could adjourn to his place or hers, assuming all went well.

“It’ll go well,” she told herself as she marched around the pond, headed for the most romantic spot.

It occurred to her, as she continued the set up for her plan, that maybe Lavon being home wasn’t the worst thing. He had said he was going to the Rammer Jammer soon, which might just save her having to tell Wade any half-truths to get him home. Better to send Lavon with a vague message than have to fake an emergency or anything.

Just as Zoe was rushing back towards the house, Lavon appeared before her again, making her jump for the second time in ten minutes.

“What are you trying to do to me?” she asked, hand at her chest where her heart beat wildly.

“Did you take every candle I own, Big Z? ‘Cause I swear I had more’n that in the cabinet.”

“Maybe you did,” she said, shifting awkwardly in place. “I’ll buy more tomorrow, I swear, I just... For tonight, I need them all.”

Lavon looked more confused than annoyed, then he sighed.

“I guess what I have is good enough” he considered. “Anyway, what was you rushing back for?”

“Oh, I was just going to ask if you could give Wade a message for me when you go to pick up Lemon. Just tell him... tell him I need him to come home, that nothing’s wrong, I just need him here.”

“Okay.” Lavon nodded. “You’re acting real weird, you know that, right?”

“I know.” Zoe grinned. “So, are you,” she countered.

“Maybe,” he agreed, the both of them seeming to know just exactly what the other was thinking, even though it was never said.

All being well, there would be plenty to talk about after whatever they were both doing came to fruition, but for now, they didn’t need to say any more to each other, only to their significant others.

* * *

“Hey, Lemon, can I ask you somethin’?”

Wade watched as Lemon glanced up at him and then checked her watch before answering him.

“I didn’t think you’d hold out for a whole hour, but good job, Wade,” she said, sarcasm in full evidence. “It was positively painful watching you walk up and down behind that bar, pretending you weren’t just tryin’ to summon up the nerve to ask me whatever was on your mind.”

Heaving a sigh, he came to lean on the bar beside her. “It ain’t all that easy is all,” he admitted, keeping his voice low just in case anybody else in the Rammer Jammer might overhear. “I was just wonderin’... has Zoe seemed different to you lately?”

“Different to what?” asked Lemon, frowning some. “Far as I can tell, she’s been her usual highly-strung self in all things,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I swear, that spa trip we took last weekend was supposed to relax everybody, but she came back just as jumpy as ever. Don’t get me wrong, she seems happy enough, but jumpy with it.”

“Jumpy, huh?” Wade echoed, rubbing his chin. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that. See, I can’t shake the feelin’ that there’s something going on inside o’ her head that she just ain’t tellin’ me.”

“A woman doesn’t have to tell a man everything, Wade,” Lemon reminded him. “We are allowed a few little secrets, you know?”

“You got secrets from Lavon?” he checked, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Of course, and I’m sure he has secrets from me, though his would be nothing significant, because I would not stand for that.”

“Ain’t that what they call a double-standard?”

“Yes, Wade, it absolutely is, because that is the way the world works,” said Lemon firmly. “So, don’t you go thinking you can use Zoe Hart’s strange behaviour as an excuse for some of your own. That is not the way these things are done.”

“I’m never gonna understand all this, am I?” Wade sighed.

“Doesn’t seem likely.” Lemon smiled, patting his hand. “But don’t worry about it, Wade, no man ever does.”

Before anymore could be said, Lavon walked on over, greeting his girlfriend with a kiss.

“I was starting to think you weren’t comin’,” she said, moving to get down from her stool.

“Hey, no hurry now,” said Lavon, sitting himself down and encouraging Lemon to stay put too. “Uh, I could use a drink myself.”

“What’ll it be, Mr Mayor?” asked Wade, waiting for the order.

Lavon cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind, we’ll take a new bartender, Wade,” he told his friend. “See, Zoe has a need of you back home. No emergency, she just said she needed to talk to you about something.”

He looked weird, almost as weird as Zoe had a few times in the last week or two. It did nothing to make Wade feel any better about his situation and he shot Lemon a look. She shook her head in response, trying to tell him not to freak out, he supposed, since Wade was pretty sure that was exactly what he was about to do. Yelling for Chester to come serve Lavon and Lemon, Wade made sure he had his keys and then headed outside to the car.

Driving over to the plantation, he knew he was gripping the steering wheel too tightly when he noticed his knuckles turning white, but it was tough to be calm in the circumstances. All the strange behaviour from Zoe and now she wanted him to come home to talk all of a sudden? Wade didn’t know all that much about real relationships, except for how to screw one up, but he was well aware that ‘We need to talk’ was never a good sign.

Pulling up outside of the gatehouse, he took a deep breath and left the car, walking over to the carriage house and raising a hand to knock. He stopped short of actually making contact when he noticed a note pinned to the door.

“I’m in the most romantic spot. Come find me,” Wade read aloud, breathing a sigh of relief as soon as he was done.

It was unlikely that Zoe wanted to meet him in a romantic place to tell him anything bad, and yet, he wasn’t entirely sure what all the fuss was about yet. Still, he never was going to find out unless he went and sought her out.

Shoving the note in his back pocket, Wade walked out around the pond and into the darkness, seeking out his girlfriend. He knew the spot she was talking about, they had been there plenty of times before, and once or twice had interrupted Lavon and Lemon when they were using the same location for their own rendezvous. Still, as Wade was coming up on what he knew to be the right spot, all he saw was darkness, no Zoe, no nothing.

“Zoe?” he called to her. “You out here someplace? Come on, girl, what the heck is going... on?”

The last word became disconnected from the rest as Wade suddenly turned and came face to face with a really impressive display on candles, spelling out four words he certainly had not been expecting, ‘Will you marry me?’

“Hi,” said Zoe, appearing as if from nowhere beside the candle-lit question.

“Hey, doc,” Wade replied, swallowing hard as his eyes moved between her and the candles still. “I, uh... You put this here?” he double-checked.

“I did,” she confessed, smiling widely. “I know it doesn’t say ‘Wade’ but, well, I ran out of candles, and so did Lavon, but I figured if I was here then you’d probably get that it was meant for you, which it is,” she quickly explained, apparently as nervous as she looked.

Wade really didn’t know what to say, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck as he stared at the flickering candles some more, replaying their question over and over in his head.

“So,” said Zoe after a while. “You maybe have an answer for me?” she asked, shifting her feet.

“An answer?” Wade echoed, slowly nodding his head as he looked from the question to Zoe’s nervous smile. “Yes.”

“Yes?” she echoed with tears in her eyes that Wade was pretty sure he was experiencing himself.

“Hell, yeah, Zoe,” he said then, rushing to her and sweeping her up into his arms, spinning her around and around until she begged him to stop.

“Oh my God, I’m so dizzy,” she complained through peals of laughter as he set her back on her feet.

“Me too,” Wade confessed, arms still around her. “You asked me to marry you, you crazy woman.”

“I did,” she said, gazing up at him, “and you said yes, you crazy man,” she said, giggling madly. “I think that means we’re engaged.”

God only knew who moved first but in a second they were kissing, their arms around each other, the whole of the rest of the world completely forgotten as they got lost in a perfect moment, only parting when they absolutely had to breathe. Still, they stayed as close as they could be, grinning like a pair of fools and not caring one bit.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” said Zoe then, one hand sliding away from Wade’s shoulder to dig in her pocket.

Suddenly, she produced a ring, thrusting it in Wade’s face and looking oddly nervous all over again. He stared at it for a second and then bust up laughing.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he told her when her smile faded too fast. “I really am, I just... I never saw the day when a woman bought me a ring... or seriously asked me to marry her, for that matter,” he confessed.

“Oh.” Zoe shook her head. “Well, you don’t have to wear the ring. I get it, it’s not very manly, and-”

“Hey,” he grabbed her wrist before she had a chance to take the ring away again. “I never said I didn’t want it,” he told her. “Come on now, I said yes, didn’t I?” he grinned at her, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers until she laughed too.

“Are you kidding?” she checked.

“Frankly, I’m disappointed you weren’t down on one knee and all,” said Wade, unable to keep the smirk from his lips.

He really wasn’t expecting Zoe to call his bluff, but maybe he should’ve known better.

“Fine,” she said, backing up a step and sinking down to one knee, wobbling the whole way on her ridiculously high heels. “Wade Kinsella, I love you. I’m pretty sure I have loved you for a very, _very_ long time. You’re the only man in the world that can make me this happy and the only man in the world that can drive me this crazy,” she said, laughing even as she confessed it. “The truth is I don’t think I really knew what true love was until I met you, but now, I’m sure that my future has to have you in it. So, please, Wade Kinsella, will you marry me?”

Of course, he had already said yes once, but after a speech like that, Wade would defy anybody to give any other answer. The fact that this incredible, amazing woman who he loved so much could love him back just as strongly, it took his breath away. As much as he hated to leave her hanging, it really did take him a minute to get himself together enough to answer her again.

“Yes, Zoe Hart,” he told her eventually. “I will absolutely marry you.”

Smiling widely, Zoe reached for his hand and slid on the ring, before letting Wade pull her back up onto her feet. She was barely fully upright before he was dragging her back into his arms to kiss her all over again, sealing the promise of their engagement and their love.

* * *

When Zoe woke up in the morning, the last thing she expected was to find that she was alone. Just last night she had proposed to Wade and after he said yes, they had barely remembered to blow out all the candles before their passion overtook them. It had been a really, really incredible night, that had not involved a great deal of sleep, but that was okay. What was less okay was Zoe waking up all by herself. Just when she was starting to worry about that, she heard the door open and close, and Wade walked in carrying a breakfast tray, smiling so wide.

“Mornin’, doc.”

“Hey,” she greeted with as much relief as happiness when he joined her back in bed, putting the tray in her lap and planting a kiss on her cheek. “There was a horrible moment when I thought it was all just a dream,” she said, reaching for his left hand and smiling at the ring she found there, “but it wasn’t.”

“No, ma’am, it was not,” he agreed smiling back at her, “and with that in mind...” he said, tapping on the edge of the breakfast tray until Zoe paid it more attention.

Her eyes scanned over the plate of toast and eggs, the orange juice and coffee, and the tiny vase of flowers, before finally she saw it. In the middle of everything, sat a red velvet box that was likely to be only one thing.

“Wade, how did you...?” she began, as he picked up the box and looked seriously at her.

“Now, this here is somethin’ I’ve had for a while now,” he explained, opening up the box. “I didn’t exactly buy it for you because... Well, it was my momma’s, a family heirloom kinda, but old Earl gave it to me and I got the notion to give it to you. Well, then we had that whole blow-out about marriage and kids and the future and all. The truth is, I put this ring away in a drawer at my place and figured it’d be a hell of a long time before I got the chance to make use of it, but then last night, you went ahead and popped the question yourself and I thought... well, you got me this fine piece of jewellery right here,” he said of his own ring, “only seemed right you got this, if you want it?”

Zoe had tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat as she looked between Wade and the beautiful ring he was offering her. The fact it wasn’t chosen for her didn’t make it any the less appealing. Actually, knowing it had once belonged to Wade’s beloved mother made it all the more special.

“Wade,” she said eventually, voice cracking with emotion that she couldn’t hide, “I would be honoured to wear that ring.”

She didn’t think he could look any happier, but somehow, he managed it as he pushed the ring onto her finger and leaned in to kiss her soundly on the lips. It was a miracle nothing on the breakfast tray spilled as she kissed him back with all the love and passion she possessed.

“Hey, before we get into this...” he said, pulling away.

“We should put the breakfast out of harm’s way,” said Zoe, nodding in agreement as she moved to do just that.

“Well, yeah, probably, but that wasn’t what I was going to say actually,” Wade confessed as she turned back to look at him. “Guess who else got himself a fiancé last night?”

“Lavon,” said Zoe right away, laughing at how stunned Wade looked. “It is him, isn’t it? I knew it. I knew he was up to something and I had a feeling it was the same thing that I was up to!” she said happily. “That is so cool. A really weird coincidence, and Lemon is probably going to be super-pissed that she has to share her engagement day with us, but I like it. I love how happy everybody is right now.”

“Yeah, me too,” Wade agreed, pulling her to him. “Especially the part where we’re happy, doc, and I really am.”

“Me too,” she said giddily right before she kissed him one more time.


	16. Chapter 16

“Wade, you are the piece of me that’s always been missing. Through your eyes, I see myself in a whole new, better way, and with you, I know true love,” said Zoe, smiling across at the man who who was about to become her husband. “And yes, sometimes, we drive each other crazy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way because I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Zoe Hart, you turned my damn world upside down, but you made me a better man,” he told her in return. “I am so excited to be your husband, and I will do everything to make you just as happy as you make me, every day.”

They were both grinning like fools as Rabbi Paymer and Reverend Mayfair prompted each of them to make their final vows and promises.

“Do you Zoe Wilkes Hart take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” she said with confidence.

“And do you, Wade Kinsella, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do,” he replied without pause.

“Then by the power vested in us, we now pronounce you, husband and wife.”

Neither reverend nor rabbi needed to give bride or groom any encouragement to seal their vows with a kiss because they were already on it, to the cheers and applause of all their assembled guests.

Zoe was laughing as they parted, staying close in Wade’s arms as she whispered to him.

“There were times when I thought we would never get here.”

“You and me both, doc,” he told her honestly. “But there’s no escapin’ now, Mrs Kinsella.”

“Trust me, I have nowhere else I’d want to be, cowboy,” she said, kissing him one more time.

“Come on now, enough of that,” said Lemon, breaking them apart at last. “There’s a party waiting for us all over at the Rammer Jammer, or did you forget?”

“Lavon, can’t you do somethin’ about your wife?” said Wade deliberately as he turned to look at his best man.

“Hell, no.” Lavon shook his head. “And you’ll learn fast enough, Wade, m’boy, you don’t argue with a wife.”

“Sound advice,” said Zoe with a grin. “I hope you’re paying attention.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Wade assured her. “But don’t expect me to just be some hen-pecked husband who does what he’s told all o’ the time, alright? ‘Cause sometimes...” he said with a dangerous look in his eye. “I might just do somethin’ crazy!” he declared loudly, suddenly scooping Zoe up into his arms and carrying her down out of the gazebo.

It wasn’t as if she was trying very hard to stop him and laughed the whole way to the ground, before he finally put her down long enough for pictures to be taken. When it came to the photograph of the bride and groom with their parents, Zoe was pleased to see her mom actually smiling for the picture. It was less of a surprise to see Earl, grinning like a crazy person next to Wade.

“Always knew this day would come,” he said proudly. “Knew right from the start, you’d be my daughter-in-law, pretty doctor,” he told Zoe with a wink.

“I’m proud to be your daughter-in-law, Earl,” she said definitely with a smile that never wavered for a moment.

Wade squeezed her hand, letting her know how much that meant to him too.

Finally, when the pictures done, everyone was off to the Rammer Jammer for that party Lemon was so keen that they all enjoy, though for once, she understood that Zoe was absolutely supposed to take all of the attention.

“You know, I wouldn’t blame you for trying to upstage me today,” Zoe told Lemon as they stood together by the bar. “I mean, I did crash a few of your biggest events.”

“Yes, you most certainly did,” she said, nodding her head. “But I think, since we did such a good job of sharing our engagement party together and you managed not to steal my thunder at my own wedding, I can let you have your special day to yourself.”

“You know, what? You are a surprisingly good friend, Lemon Hayes,” said Zoe, raising her champagne glass in a toast.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Zoe Kinsella,” Lemon replied, clinking her glass against Zoe’s own before they both drank.

It was strange to think how much they hated each other once, how they would fight and bicker over every little thing. Even a year ago, Zoe wasn’t sure they would ever manage much more than forced civility, and yet, here they were, with Lemon taking her place amongst Zoe’s bridesmaids, the two of them genuine friends at last.

“I got somebody here wants to say congratulations to Auntie Zoe,” said a voice then, and both ladies turned at the same time to see Annabeth appraching.

“Oh, look at him!” Zoe gasped at the sight of baby Davey, the three month old looking just as cute as a button in his tuxedo-style onesie. “AB, he’s precious. Yes, you are,” Zoe told Davey as she put down her glass to take the baby into her arms. “You are the handsomest guy in the whole world.”

“Hey now,” said Wade as he appeared from behind the bar. “Talk like that makes a husband jealous,” he joked.

“Look at him, Wade. He’s so adorable,” she said, showing off little Davey for all she was worth.

“Careful, Wade,” said Joel, slapping his friend on the back. “Next thing you know, she’s going to start wanting one of her own.”

“Hey, wouldn’t matter to me if she did,” said Wade honestly, “and it ain’t like we haven’t had plenty of practice at how you get one of those either.”

“I see the maturity of being a husband hasn’t quite kicked in yet,” said AB, rolling her eyes as she reached to take Davey back into her arms when he began fussing. “Well, we just wanted to wish you two all the best, but we can’t stay too long, not with the little one and all.”

“Thank you for coming, even for a little while,” Zoe told her, leaning in to hug AB as best she could around the baby then moving on to hug Joel too. “I’m so happy that everybody else is so happy, and also, that I’m so happy!” she enthused.

“We’re very happy for you, Zoe,” said Joel honestly. “For both of you, obviously.”

The guys shook hands one more time and then Joel asked AB if she wanted to go.

“Y’all aren’t leavin’ are you?” asked Rose as she appeared between the couple. “Please, I haven’t even gotten a hug yet!” she complained, reaching for her turn at holding Davey for a while. “You know, if you two wanted to dance or somethin’, I’m just fine taking care of him for a little while.”

“Oh, well...” said AB, looking uncertain. “I guess we could?” she considered, looking to Joel. “One dance?”

“I think we can manage that,” he told her with a smile, leading her out onto the floor.

Lavon came over to ask Lemon to dance next, as Rose went to grab a seat and show off baby Davey to anyone who wanted to see him.

Wade moved up closer to Zoe, his arm around her shoulders.

“Hell of a day, doc,” he said with a sigh.

“It really is” she agreed, leaning into him. “Not every day you get married.”

“No, it is not,” he agreed, squirming just a little when he spotted Tansy across the way, wrapped in George’s arms.

“What?” asked Zoe, following his gaze. “Wade...”

“It’s nothin’,” he assured her. “I was just thinkin’... Well, prob’ly woulda been better all around if this was my only weddin’. You’d like it better if you were my first and only wife, right?”

Zoe shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly? It doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, you and Tansy had a drunk wedding and nothing like a real marriage. You made a mistake, we all do that, it just happens,” she said easily. “You’re not still mad at me for my old crush on George, are you?”

“Course not.” Wade shrugged. “The best man won in the end, right?” he said, grinning at her.

“Yes he did,” she confirmed, smiling back at him. “Besides, I’m actually sort of glad that you married Tansy.”

“You are?” asked Wade, looking like he didn’t quite believe her.

“Uh-huh. Think about it,” Zoe urged him. “If you hadn’t married Tansy, she wouldn’t have come back to town when she did to get a divorce. That started a whole chain reaction that eventually led to her and George getting together, and maybe even had an effect on you and me getting together too. What I’m saying is, everything happens for a reason, Wade,” Zoe told him, turning to face him and putting her arms up around his neck. “We’ve been through a lot, and sure, it was hard and painful and bad sometimes, but there have been a lot of good times too, and we have so many more to come. It was all worth it, right?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Wade agreed, smiling down at her and then leaning in for a kiss.

Whooping and hollering followed when several of the guests spotted the newlyweds almost getting to their wedding night a little too soon. Before long, Wade and Zoe were both being dragged out onto the dancefloor again, not that they minded at all.

In the hours that followed, they danced with each other as well as with everybody else that asked. Cake was eaten, a lot of alcohol was consumed, Joel and AB stayed a little longer than they meant to, Uncle Brando showed off all his best impressions, and much fun was had. Nobody could say they didn’t have a real fine time at the Hart-Kinsella wedding. Not even Candice.

“You are happy for me, aren’t you, Mom?” Zoe asked her at one point when they got a quiet moment alone.

“Zoe, sweetheart,” said Candice, her hand at her daughter’s cheek. “I will admit that this is not at all how I saw your future turning out, and maybe Wade is not the man I would’ve chosen for you, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t choose well. In fact, I think you’ve probably chosen perfectly for yourself.”

It was all Zoe really needed to hear and was so happy to have her mother say those things, she couldn’t stop crying for fully five minutes after the fact. That moment aside, she mostly laughed and smiled so much that her face started to ache, and yet the party didn’t stop, not until some ridiculous hour of the morning, when finally, every person seemed to be completely full of good food and drink, and entirely danced out too.

“You about done for tonight, doc?” asked Wade, slumping some on a bar stool and pulling Zoe into his lap the moment she got near.

“Pretty much,” she admitted, leaning her head against his shoulder. “It’s been such a great day.”

“Can’t argue with that,” he agreed, kissing her temple.

“Hey, wait a second!” a voice suddenly yelled catching just about everyone’s attention. “Don’t we get no bouquet toss?” asked Delma, her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, there better be one!” Shula said definitely. “I love a good bouquet toss.”

“This town really is crazy.” Zoe half-laughed, half-groaned as Wade set her back on her feet.

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said with a wink, watching her position herself in front of just about every unmarried woman in Bluebell, ready to toss that bouquet.

He didn’t ask why, at the last minute, she sneaked a single rose out of the arrangement and shoved it into his hand, just smiled and watched her throw the bouquet right over her head, straight into the waiting arms of one Tansy Truitt.

“I got it!” she said triumpantly, laughing at the others as they moaned and complained.

“You know, I was kinda hopin’ this would happen,” said George stepping out into the empty space in the middle of the room.

Tansy spun around to look at him, her mouth falling open with surprise when she realised he was going down onto one knee and offering her a ring.

“George Tucker, what are you doin’?” she asked, even though it was plain as day.

“Tansy Truitt, on this day, when two of our best friends finally got married, I wanted to ask you if you would do me the honour of making me just as happy as I know Zoe and Wade have made each other. Will you marry me, Tans?”

Words seemed to fail her, but Tansy made her feelings known, nodding like a crazy person and then throwing herself into George’s arms, kissing him soundly.

The crowd all cheered and applauded, Wade joined in too, though when he moved to offer more personal congratulations to the newly engaged couple, Zoe’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“Can we just...?” she said, tilting her head towards the exit.

She looked so serious all of a sudden, he didn’t like to argue with her. Instead, he followed her out into the cool night air, letting her entwine her fingers with his own and lead the way to wherever it was she had a need to go. As they neared the cemetary, he figured he knew now what the flower was for and just exactly where it was they were headed.

“Hey, Harley,” Zoe said softly as they arrived at his grave, stooping a moment to lay the rose from her bouquet by the headstone. “I got married today. Pretty crazy, huh? But I just wanted you to know that I am so, so grateful to you for bringing me here. Without you, I never would’ve come to Bluebell, I never would’ve had all these amazing friends or learnt how good it could feel to help people as a GP, and I never would’ve met Wade,” she said, glancing at her husband and smiling through a veil of tears. “I wish you were here to see how happy we are together,” she said, looking back to the grave then, “but I guess you can see just as well from where you are, right?”

She was silent then and Wade realised she was crying. Letting go of Zoe’s hand and wrapping an arm around her shoulders instead, he pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.

“I figure ol’ Harley’s up there, maybe sharing a cloud with Momma,” he said softly into Zoe’s hair, “and they’re damn happy for us, doc.”

“Yeah, I think so too,” she said, looking up at him with a shaky smile.

Wade wiped the tears from her cheeks and chastely kissed her lips.

“You ready to go on home, Mrs Kinsella?”

“That’s _Dr_ Kinsella, thank you very much,” she told him smartly, smiling for real again by now, “but yes, I am more than ready to go home,” she told him.

They turned to walk away, their arms around each other and genuine smiles on their lips.

Zoe only glanced back once, thinking again about how she had first come to be in Bluebell, how she and Wade had first met, and how far they had come in the last few years. For all the ups and downs they had been through, she wouldn’t change their lives for the world. Eventually, they had found their happy ending and that made it all worthwhile.


End file.
